Saturday, April 11, 2009
Tonight is my last night
Yep, I need to wake up at 4 tomorrow morning so I can get readt and leave at 4:45. Then its a 3 hour bus ride, 8 hour plane ride, then another 30 plane. The weird thing is the time we will be returning back home. If we leave on our bus at 5:30, and it's 3 hours to Frankfurt, it will be about 8:30 when we get there. Suppose our plane leaves at 10, then it would be about 12 when we get to Charlotte (due to the time difference of six hours). By my calculations, we should be home by 2 at the latest, not at 7, which is what time the teachers are saying we will get there. But honestly, they didn't even know what was going on half the time while we were there...so I guess we can arrive home at anytime tommorrow!
Friday, April 10, 2009
I lied
I didn't get a chance to update my blog earlier, so I shall do it now, talking about what I have done for the past week!
Friday, we went to go see Obama speak. I woke up at my normal time of six in the morning, and we arrived at our schools meeting point, the cinema, before anyone else! So we had to wait a bit, but when everyone else did show up...there was even more waiting! We formed a line and had to walk into the theatre and show some people our passports and invitations. I was thinking "yea, Obama time now!", but before that, we had to get on a bus and wait some more...until it arrived at the sports arena where Obama was speaking! I was excited...until i realized that we had to wait in the ice rink across the street for about an hour and a half...not fun. But when everyone was allowed to leave, we had to wait in a HUGE line to go through security, which surprisingly wasn't as tight as airport security. After our quick and not very thorough check, we went inside the stadium and took some seats while it started to fill up. We waited for about an hour...not kidding. I fell asleep while waiting lol. The whole crowd was getting tired of waiting, but the tension built up more when one person screamed and stood up with their camera ready. This made everyone, including me, think that Obama just walked in, so everyone stood up with their cameras ready! It wasn't Obama though, it was just some dude in a suit. It wasn't until another 10 minutes that the announcement came on saying that Obama and his wife walked in. His speech was very good, but I am sure you have all seen it on the news, so I won't go into details. After his speech, Guillaume and I headed home, where I got out of my dress clothes and into some PJ's. I started to try to fix his computer, and as soon as I was underneath his desk, two of his friends walk in...aaaawwwwwkkkwwwaaarrrddd. But it was cool, they sat around and all played guitars and the piano. But that was a long day.
Saturday was mostly chill, I spent most of it trying to fix Guillaume's PC. We thought it was a monitor problem, but it has something else wrong with it that I have no reason to explain, but the bottom line is I can't fix it lol. But that's not all we did. His brother had tennis that afternoon, so after lunch, Guillaume and I took him to the school for tennis. One of the teachers opened the basketball court indoors for us, and we played some BBall with one of his friends. Later that night, there was a big astronomy event going on at the top of a mountain (it was Galileo's 400th birthday), so we all headed up there. It was very cool, there were a bunch of people that had their telescopes set up and let people look at! A lot of them looked like they were stolen from NASA, they were really nice, much better than mine. But there was one problem...IT WAS TOO CLOUDY! After we had been there for about 20 minutes, it just got too cloudy to see anything, so we went back home.
Sunday was a quick day. After our lunch, all of us, except Guillaume since he had a lot of homework, headed into Germany to go walk around some of the mountains and vineyards. We walked for about 4 hours, so it was a good walk. I went to bed early that day, cause I had to wake up extra early...
Monday, I woke at 4 in the morning and got ready to leave at 5. Guillaume's Dad took me to the train station, and we were there before anyone else...for at least 15 minutes. But after Ms. Peoples came in, he left. When everyone was there, we got on our train, which was heading to a small little town that no one knows about. I think it's called...PARIS!! Yea, we went to Paris. It was pretty sweet, as soon as we arrived in the train station, I saw some armed soldiers. I thought we were being let loose in Paris, but nope, we were on a bus tour...but I still got a lot of pictures. We visited 3 places on foot, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre Museum. I took lots of pictures, so I will show those and talk about them when I get back.
Tuesday was bowling and Parliament day. We went bowling with all the French kids first. It was pretty fun, but I had a pretty off game that day lol. After our bowling, we went to the European Parliament. Our guide wasn't the best English speaker, he kept repeating everything he said. But it was still pretty cool.
Wednesday was EUROPARK day! It was really cool, and I had a lot of fun! There were a bunch of huge rides, and we waited for one fore about an hour and a half, but it was worth it. The park is split into different areas, with each area being a different country in Europe, and the areas theme was relevant to the country. France and Germany were the largest areas of course, but there were lots of things to go to in all of the areas, but we didn't even get to go to them all sadly. I didn't take any pictures, as I was too busy having fun.
Yesterday started off bad, but ended good. I knew we were going to some kind of pottery thing first thing in the morning, but I thought we were making pottery, which would of been fun. Instead, we watched people make pottery, which was borning. But there were about 90 pottery shops in the small town, since it's by the river and has lots of clay. After our pottery look, we went to Germany where we went to a Roman styled bath! It was soooooooooooooo relaxing. There were lots of different pools, each with a different temperature and jets in them. Plus, there was an aroma therapy room which was...just awesome. The only con to it was that there were wwwwaaaaaayyyyy too many naked people lol. After our bath, we went back to the school where there was a dance. At first I thought, "oh boy, a school dance, how stupid". I was really wrong. It was basically a techno rave, strobe lights and all (no dropping acid though). It was sweet. Everyone was dancing like crazy, and just looking like a bunch of fools, but it was honestly the most fun I have had so far on the trip. I was sad whe we had to go at 10. But when I got home, I took a shower and feel asleep as soon as I hit the bed.
Now today, it seems like it will be a mostly chill day, seeing as it's Good Friday and eveything is closed. But we will find somethng to do, lol.
Friday, we went to go see Obama speak. I woke up at my normal time of six in the morning, and we arrived at our schools meeting point, the cinema, before anyone else! So we had to wait a bit, but when everyone else did show up...there was even more waiting! We formed a line and had to walk into the theatre and show some people our passports and invitations. I was thinking "yea, Obama time now!", but before that, we had to get on a bus and wait some more...until it arrived at the sports arena where Obama was speaking! I was excited...until i realized that we had to wait in the ice rink across the street for about an hour and a half...not fun. But when everyone was allowed to leave, we had to wait in a HUGE line to go through security, which surprisingly wasn't as tight as airport security. After our quick and not very thorough check, we went inside the stadium and took some seats while it started to fill up. We waited for about an hour...not kidding. I fell asleep while waiting lol. The whole crowd was getting tired of waiting, but the tension built up more when one person screamed and stood up with their camera ready. This made everyone, including me, think that Obama just walked in, so everyone stood up with their cameras ready! It wasn't Obama though, it was just some dude in a suit. It wasn't until another 10 minutes that the announcement came on saying that Obama and his wife walked in. His speech was very good, but I am sure you have all seen it on the news, so I won't go into details. After his speech, Guillaume and I headed home, where I got out of my dress clothes and into some PJ's. I started to try to fix his computer, and as soon as I was underneath his desk, two of his friends walk in...aaaawwwwwkkkwwwaaarrrddd. But it was cool, they sat around and all played guitars and the piano. But that was a long day.
Saturday was mostly chill, I spent most of it trying to fix Guillaume's PC. We thought it was a monitor problem, but it has something else wrong with it that I have no reason to explain, but the bottom line is I can't fix it lol. But that's not all we did. His brother had tennis that afternoon, so after lunch, Guillaume and I took him to the school for tennis. One of the teachers opened the basketball court indoors for us, and we played some BBall with one of his friends. Later that night, there was a big astronomy event going on at the top of a mountain (it was Galileo's 400th birthday), so we all headed up there. It was very cool, there were a bunch of people that had their telescopes set up and let people look at! A lot of them looked like they were stolen from NASA, they were really nice, much better than mine. But there was one problem...IT WAS TOO CLOUDY! After we had been there for about 20 minutes, it just got too cloudy to see anything, so we went back home.
Sunday was a quick day. After our lunch, all of us, except Guillaume since he had a lot of homework, headed into Germany to go walk around some of the mountains and vineyards. We walked for about 4 hours, so it was a good walk. I went to bed early that day, cause I had to wake up extra early...
Monday, I woke at 4 in the morning and got ready to leave at 5. Guillaume's Dad took me to the train station, and we were there before anyone else...for at least 15 minutes. But after Ms. Peoples came in, he left. When everyone was there, we got on our train, which was heading to a small little town that no one knows about. I think it's called...PARIS!! Yea, we went to Paris. It was pretty sweet, as soon as we arrived in the train station, I saw some armed soldiers. I thought we were being let loose in Paris, but nope, we were on a bus tour...but I still got a lot of pictures. We visited 3 places on foot, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre Museum. I took lots of pictures, so I will show those and talk about them when I get back.
Tuesday was bowling and Parliament day. We went bowling with all the French kids first. It was pretty fun, but I had a pretty off game that day lol. After our bowling, we went to the European Parliament. Our guide wasn't the best English speaker, he kept repeating everything he said. But it was still pretty cool.
Wednesday was EUROPARK day! It was really cool, and I had a lot of fun! There were a bunch of huge rides, and we waited for one fore about an hour and a half, but it was worth it. The park is split into different areas, with each area being a different country in Europe, and the areas theme was relevant to the country. France and Germany were the largest areas of course, but there were lots of things to go to in all of the areas, but we didn't even get to go to them all sadly. I didn't take any pictures, as I was too busy having fun.
Yesterday started off bad, but ended good. I knew we were going to some kind of pottery thing first thing in the morning, but I thought we were making pottery, which would of been fun. Instead, we watched people make pottery, which was borning. But there were about 90 pottery shops in the small town, since it's by the river and has lots of clay. After our pottery look, we went to Germany where we went to a Roman styled bath! It was soooooooooooooo relaxing. There were lots of different pools, each with a different temperature and jets in them. Plus, there was an aroma therapy room which was...just awesome. The only con to it was that there were wwwwaaaaaayyyyy too many naked people lol. After our bath, we went back to the school where there was a dance. At first I thought, "oh boy, a school dance, how stupid". I was really wrong. It was basically a techno rave, strobe lights and all (no dropping acid though). It was sweet. Everyone was dancing like crazy, and just looking like a bunch of fools, but it was honestly the most fun I have had so far on the trip. I was sad whe we had to go at 10. But when I got home, I took a shower and feel asleep as soon as I hit the bed.
Now today, it seems like it will be a mostly chill day, seeing as it's Good Friday and eveything is closed. But we will find somethng to do, lol.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sorry for not updating
I have been pretty busy, from seeing the President, to going to huge astronomy events, to going to Paris, and even going bowling!! I would love to talk abut it more, but I just got back home less than an hour ago, since Guillaume had Mass today. I attended also. It was, well, not in English so I tried to do what everyone around me was doing (except take part in communion), but it was cool I guess. BUT TOMORROW! I shall tell more about what I have done then, since I will be home earlier and will have time to update the blog. As for what we are doing tomorrow, we are going to EUROPARK, which sounds fruity AWESOME. It's a big ol' amusement park, so it should be fun!!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Tomorrow is Obama day.
Yes, tomorrow, we see the man himself! I will try to take as many pictures as possible, for my Dad, of course, since he is Obama's biggest supporter...
But today, we went to a castle. CASTLE. On top of a mountain. A CASTLE!! From the Middle Ages!! (Even though it was mostly in ruins by the end of the middle ages, and was completely rebuilt by 1918, that doesn't diminish the fact that it's a freaking castle.) It was pretty sweet, the mountain it is on is almost a kilometer tall, and the castle itself is about 60 meters tall.I got a lot of pictures and video there too. On our way out of there, we went into the GIFT SHOP, where they had a bunch of cool swords! There was a replica of "Sting", the blade Frodo from Lord of the Rings uses that glows blue when orcs are near, for only 23 euro!!! I would of got it, but I don't believe that would of been allowed on the plane, lol.
After a quick lunch there, we left for a little old town called Kaysersberg. It is really old, and it is also the location where Charles P. Murray battled in WW2 and recieved a Medal of Honor for it. We were going to meet the Mayor of the town, but he was not there, but we did meet his staff! YAY!!! It was a cool little town, it looks really old, and there were a lot of pictures taken, and there are a bunch of dogs that are loose, but they don't bother anyone.
But today, we went to a castle. CASTLE. On top of a mountain. A CASTLE!! From the Middle Ages!! (Even though it was mostly in ruins by the end of the middle ages, and was completely rebuilt by 1918, that doesn't diminish the fact that it's a freaking castle.) It was pretty sweet, the mountain it is on is almost a kilometer tall, and the castle itself is about 60 meters tall.I got a lot of pictures and video there too. On our way out of there, we went into the GIFT SHOP, where they had a bunch of cool swords! There was a replica of "Sting", the blade Frodo from Lord of the Rings uses that glows blue when orcs are near, for only 23 euro!!! I would of got it, but I don't believe that would of been allowed on the plane, lol.
After a quick lunch there, we left for a little old town called Kaysersberg. It is really old, and it is also the location where Charles P. Murray battled in WW2 and recieved a Medal of Honor for it. We were going to meet the Mayor of the town, but he was not there, but we did meet his staff! YAY!!! It was a cool little town, it looks really old, and there were a lot of pictures taken, and there are a bunch of dogs that are loose, but they don't bother anyone.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
This is for Today and Yesterday
I couldn't make a blog yesterday, since I did not return home until 7:30, and Guillaume had a lot of homework to do. Yesterday, we visited a musuem about the long conflicts between Germany and France & how they are now working together, and then we went to Strutof, the only concentration camp in France. The first place was interesting, but there were no pictures allowed in the building, so I took a lot of the beautiful mountains. There is nothing much to say, honestly, about the musuem, except that it was..."intense". After our tour, we hopped back on our bus and headed up the moutains to Strutof. I originally wasn't planning on taking many pictures, but once you enter the barbed gate and go inside the buildings, you can't help but to take some. Strutof was camp where they did the most experiments on prisoners. Going into the building with a operation table, execution room, "guinea pig" room, and a big furnace all in it is very solemn. One girl almost started to cry, but thankfully she didn't. Back at the lobby, before you enter the camp, you can go underneath and see where there are tunnels, probably more than 100 meters long. In there tunnels, prisoners were forced to mine for granite. The whole place had a very sad vibe around it, but I am still glad I went. Not glad, as in happy, but glad as in all the information I have learned.
Earlier today, we spent our first 2 hours in an English class lol. The French students there had to interview us, asking us about our hometowns, family, etc. It was pretty funny, as durning the second hour, or second period, there were two guys interviewing me at the same time, and they kept asking about "beautiful American girls". After our class, we went outside to go play our activites we had signed up for yesterday, either Table Tennis, volleyball, or rock climbing. I signed up for PingPong, but the teacher was not here today, so I played volleyball. It was very fun, as Guillaume, another French Student named Gregoire, his host Jessica, and I; we kicked some butt. We tied for 3rd out of 11 teams!! After pwning some noobs in volleyball, we went to go eat durning lunch period. About 20 people, French and American, all went to a really good pizzalike restraunt, and it was very good!! Then, we had to wait for them to finish a really tough oral exam. After that, we went home at 3, where Guillaume has been singing, dancing, and playing his guitar & piano like a mad man! It is pretty scary, lol.
Earlier today, we spent our first 2 hours in an English class lol. The French students there had to interview us, asking us about our hometowns, family, etc. It was pretty funny, as durning the second hour, or second period, there were two guys interviewing me at the same time, and they kept asking about "beautiful American girls". After our class, we went outside to go play our activites we had signed up for yesterday, either Table Tennis, volleyball, or rock climbing. I signed up for PingPong, but the teacher was not here today, so I played volleyball. It was very fun, as Guillaume, another French Student named Gregoire, his host Jessica, and I; we kicked some butt. We tied for 3rd out of 11 teams!! After pwning some noobs in volleyball, we went to go eat durning lunch period. About 20 people, French and American, all went to a really good pizzalike restraunt, and it was very good!! Then, we had to wait for them to finish a really tough oral exam. After that, we went home at 3, where Guillaume has been singing, dancing, and playing his guitar & piano like a mad man! It is pretty scary, lol.
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