Playing with Blogger and Catching Up

 It's been a very long time since I posted on this blog. I am preparing to take a Google Education Certification test and I want to play with Blogger to make sure I have it right. 😃 I'll also share some STEM sites and share about my life. :) 

I want to add some HTML and show off my STEM class:

Add a video to share what happened in 2020:

Play with pictures:

Being a Repat

I have been back in NC for 2 years. It's weird to think it's been that long and it's also weird to think I ever lived in Europe. 

Pros about being back:

1. I have lots of friends I can see at a moment's notice.

2. Driving - Nice huge roads to drive on and big parking spaces.

3. Not having to move so often now that I own a home again.

4. The weather - NC has amazing weather and when it is too hot or too cold our AC or Heat is always on, even when we aren't home so it's good the second we walk in the door. I even have a different thermostat on the different floors.

5. Washers and dryers - European washers could hold only a few clothes at a time. I can do 2 weeks worth of laundry and they still won't be full. :) 

6. Family being close so you don't have to count the hours to see what time it is to see if you can call.

7. Walmart, Target, and other department stores where it is a one stop shop.

Cons:

1. Politics - I wish everyone would be nice and respect people's views even if they are different than yours.

2. Traveling - I can travel in the US and see some amazing things, but in Europe you travel for a couple of hours and you are hearing another language, seeing different architecture, eating different foods, and enjoying different cultures.

3. National Parks vs. National Trust - National Parks are amazing and beautiful, but they are few and far between. National Trusts in England usually include an old house and beautiful gardens. They are also everywhere in England. I went to so many of them just for a morning or day trip.

4. West End vs. Broadway. I could go to a West End show for around £25. That was the normal price (Not all shows of course). I can't usually see a show for that comes to NC.

5. Cheap flights - I have multiple examples where the train to get to the airport was more expensive than the flight cost. I miss Ryan Air, Easyjet, and other discount airlines that let me hope around Europe every chance I got.

6. Walkable cities - Especially in Germany, I could take a train to the main station and walk to wherever I needed to get. German trains were also super cheap. English Trains were a little expensive.

Neuschwanstein Weekend

My landlord got a new wifi system and now my internet goes in and out, so I haven't posted any blogs lately.  Today, I'm going to try to get this post done before the internet goes out again.

Neuschwanstein Castle - My friend from work and I rented a car and went to see Mad King Ludwig's castles - We saw 2 and he has 4 (who knew?).  We went right after school and the leaves were just beginning to change and the drive was breathtaking.  Everywhere we looked we saw amazing sights!

Walking into
Hohenschwangau Castle 

Hohenschwangau Castle

  

To end the perfect day of beautiful sights, the sun gave us one more show!

Hands down, at night, Hohenschwangau castle is better than the Neuschwanstein castle.

This is the view from our hotel.  It is pretty, but at night it doesn't even compare to the other one!

Good morning sun, alps, and castle!

My friend Sam at the entrance of Neuschwanstein castle - who knew it was 2 colors!

Gorgeous views from the castle balcony.

The view from Neuschwanstein Castle!  I walked around that lake!

Looking toward the 2 castles from the other side of the lake -
we are actually in Austria in this picture!

This is the other side of Neuschwanstein castle looking onto the valley.

The gardens of Hohenschwangau castle.

What would a castle blog be without the turret?

Hohenschwangau castle isn't as pretty as Neuschwanstein during the day.
Neuschwanstein has the advantage also of the Alps for a background.

The Perfect Hotel and the Perfect Village

This may be the first May pole I have ever seen!

This is a little smoke house in the hotel's back yard.
They build a fire in the pit and warm themselves up from the cold winters.

This is a map we saw of the Camino.  It is a pilgrimage from all over Europe to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  I knew about the trails that went from France to Spain and from Portugal to Spain, but I had no idea there were trails literally ALL over Europe!  The one that goes from the U.K. via boat looks like the one for me!

Love these frog princes that are everywhere!  This one says "Kiss me!"

Seriously?  This is our hotel's back yard.  This is fairytale land FOR SURE!

I thought this was just artistic!  I had to try several times to get what I wanted.
It reminds me of a book cover.

We saw a sign that said view, so we stopped to see the view!

Augsburg

I love love love these vines changing color on the sides of buildings!
It is so pretty!!!  These pictures do not do it justice!

Love the artistic buildings that put color into the city!

Weird Sounds, a Surprise Visitor, and Trash - Again.

German sounds:

1.  ei is pronounced with a long i sound.
2.  ie is pronounced with a long e sound.
3.  The e at the end of the word sounds like a short a.
4.  The w sounds like a v.
5.  The v sounds like a w.
6.  The z sounds like an s (they try to tell me it doesn't, but it does).
7.  The s sounds like a z (see above comment).
8.  The ä-ö-ü are impossible to pronounce so I'm already giving up on those!
9. ß is not a crazy b. It is 2 s's together - sort of. There are rules that I've been told and promptly forgotten, so as long as you know that it is an s sound, you are safe.

Now you know German - or at least you can read German and sing songs. I have no idea what they are saying, but since I don't have an English hymnal, I'm singing in German at church.

German Friends:

These are friends from church.  They often have guests over on a Sunday night.  This was my second Sunday coming.  This was a going away party for Bianca, my friend that went with me to Stuttgart.  I am going to miss her so much even though I hardly know her really.  We really bonded on that trip!.   You can see half of her head next to the little girl.  We ended the evening with singing and I got to sing in English while they were singing in German.  The thing I miss most about church in America is singing. I sing in German if the songs are slow enough for me to try to pronounce the words.  But I sing very quietly so I don't mess up.

A Surprise Visitor:

My brother Kenneth was sent to Munich for a sudden thing that happened with work.  He had 2 days advance notice.  He was in Munich for 4 days, so I decided to go see him for a few hours after work.  

So Munich is pretty much the capital of Oktoberfest and it started the weekend before Kenneth got here.  We found a great Bavarian restaurant with lots of great food.  It was great because there were so many people dressed in dirndls and lederhosen. It was very perfect for anyone with a few hours to spend being a tourist.  Most of the people of course were Americans and from the UK, but that is beside the point!  We were seeing costumes!  :)  Lol.  We heard more English on the streets than German for sure.  At least the waiters were German anyway.  Lol!  We had our wiener schnitzel and bratwurst.  We were as German as anyone else in the restaurant, but I should have worn my dirndl darn it!  I'll have to save it for next time.  (By the way, people at church wear theirs all the time.  One day, I'll be brave enough to wear mine.  It just seems wrong to wear since I'm an American.  But other Americans wear theirs, but they speak German fluently.)

One of those "chance" moments happened again when I mentioned to my friend that I was going to Munich on Wednesday.  She said that she was actually driving to Munich on Wednesday to catch a plane and would I like a ride.  Kenneth's hotel was close to the airport! Amazing coincidence, tender mercies, or Karma - No matter what it was, it was awesome to get a ride and to have time to get to know one of my co-workers even better!  The man in this picture - Jesus - is Kenneth's co-worker.  He and his wife are from Spain (I'm not sure why I have all these chance encounters with Spanish people).  They are amazing people and I had a delightful time speaking my Spanish with them.  I even got kissed at the beginning and the end of our time together.  They want me to contact them the next time I am in Madrid.  I swear I love Spanish people, they are amazing, warm, kind, and generous.  Germans are also lovely people.  I am pretty sure the reason my heart is in Spain is because I have spent more time there (Not to mention it is warm and has the ocean and the sea.  Any place that gives you kisses as you come and go is a pretty good place.)  I'm sure that I will love Germany as much as I love Spain. The Germans have actually really made me feel very welcome and have bent over backwards to make sure that I feel comfortable and I am a part of the group.  I love that Germans have groups that you can join everywhere.  Not to mention that the houses in Germany, the views, and the castles are amazing!

This is Edelweiss.  It was in the Bavarian restaurant that we went to.  Of course, we broke into song singing.  I had no idea Spanish people even heard of the Sound of Music.  Most Austrians and Germans never have.

Trash - Again:

Taking my paper trash for a walk.  We have bio pickup, plastic pick up, trash pick up, but no paper pick up.  So, I had a large pile of cardboard and trash to take, so I put it in my old lady grocery cart and took it for a walk to the nearest paper recycling thing about 3 blocks away.  Unfortunately, that one was too full and I couldn't stuff any of my stuff into it, so I had to go to the one about 3 blocks on the other side of my apartment building.

This paper recycling bin was the one that wasn't full to the brim, but if you look, it's pretty darn full, but I could at least stuff my paper in.  I was actually afraid I'd have to bring it back home with me and keep storing it until I knew a paper bin was empty enough for my stuff.  Darn IKEA and all the paper that comes with their stuff.  I bought a blanket at a grocery store and I actually unwrapped it at the paper recycling place so I didn't have to bring it home with me and take it for a walk back later on.

The View from Other Side of the Street:

Do you ever get in a habit of doing something the same way every time you do it?  Well, whenever I walked toward the city after work, I always walked on the same side of the street as the school - of course, it is straight.  Well, last Thursday I walked toward game night and I crossed the street right past my school.  I was very surprised to see how pretty it was.  There are lots of multi-colored houses with lots of German charm.  I had noticed the stores on the ground level before and I had even gone in a few of them, but I never noticed it was so pretty above the stores.  So, I decided to walk to game night a different way and I passed an Asian restaurant.  Mr. Luu's.  I remembered that I had gotten a flier about the delivery that was available.  I looked in the restaurant and it was empty.  The chef was at the top of the stairs and looking out.  I felt so sorry for him that I almost walked right in even though I had just finished a huge meal at school (It was a fundraising meal for a school in Nepal).  I didn't go in, but I felt like I should to support him!  It was in downtown Neu-Ulm, but it was a side street with nothing around but houses.  I had never been down this street before and had no idea it was even there.  Do you ever see things and imagine what is really happening?  I made up this whole story about that man standing there on his own trying to earn money for his family in some poor Asian country.  I hope he has success.  After playing games, I went back by the same street and looked back in.  Still no one was there and the man was gone from view.  Possibly in the kitchen just sitting and hoping that someone came.  This reminds me that I should go by sometime for dinner.  :)  

Things I Do in Germany That I Never Did in the USA

Trash and Recycling:
There are so many things that are different here in Germany.  When I was younger and living in New Zealand, there were a lot of differences and I loved seeing the differences.  Perhaps I had more support (missionaries always have a partner to work with - most of my co-missionaries were from Australia or New Zealand), or maybe I was just young and ready to go with the flow.  I still go with the flow, but I'm a little confused about the flow and which way it's going.  The first confusion I had was the trash.  You think - how can trash be confusing.  Well... let me tell you!  Okay, too confusing, so let me show you:

In theory, you have 4 trash containers.  A trash trash bin, an organic waste (any scraps of food, peelings, meat bones, you can see the list.  (Sorry it's not so clear - blame my selfie phone again.), a blue paper bin - the trash bags MUST be blue, and the yellow packaging bag - the trash bags MUST be yellow.  I have this in my kitchen as a cheat sheet where things go.  I have no blue trash bag or trash can, so I have to walk all my paper, cardboard,.... to the paper recycling containers that are at various points all over the city.  This does not even mention glass - which is next to the paper bins.  This does not come every week at the same time.  

Here is the second page:

I also got a calendar showing which zone I was in and when to have the bags ready for pickup.  It's once every 2 weeks.  I started putting my organic waste into the freezer so it didn't bring flies or stinkiness to my apartment.

I do WHAT with my bottles? 

So obviously Germany is serious about it's recycling.  So, in Germany, you pay extra for bottled drinks.  So, you take them back to where you bought them so you can get money back.  Yes, you TAKE THEM BACK WHERE YOU BOUGHT THEM!  There is an exception.  If there is another place that has the same type of bottled water, fanta, random drink, you can take them there.  So, let's say you are walking down the street and say, "Wow, I'm parched" and decide to buy a bottled water, you will have to pray that other places take the same bottle.  They actually have machines in grocery stores for returning bottles.  It's electronic and reads the label on the bottle (I have to break myself of the habit of taking the labels off) and you get a receipt to take the cashier for the credit.  Luckily, I have a drink place next to my house.  It does sell beer and wine, but it also sells orange juice, apple juice, water, fanta, and almost every drink imaginable.   I took my bottles back there and surprisingly they took all the bottles I had!  Woo hoo!  In theory, it would be great if I just had my own water bottle I can re-use, but I have yet to buy one or remember to refill my old one.  One day, I'll be a pro at this bottle thing..... (Trick if the hassle isn't worth the money - you can put the used bottle in the waste cans in the middle of the city and homeless people or cheap people will go through and pick them up to turn them in.  Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.  Meanwhile, I'm collecting bottles in my house until I decide to go buy more drinks.)

Open Your Window!!!

I heard a rumor that in Germany you must open your window at least once a day for several minutes during the winter.  It's actually in my apartment contract.  "All rooms have to be cleaned and aired out regularly."  Supposedly if you don't do this, mold could start forming on the walls.  My plan is to do it when I shower.  I'll open them, jump in the shower with really hot water, jump out, close the window and turn up the heat!  We'll see how I survive this....  I am very cold nurtured.

Things I Have in the States that I Don't Have in Germany:

1.  A car - by choice - I don't really need one.  The bus and train system are great and I am getting a bike from a member of my church.

2.  A dryer & dishwasher - I miss these most of all.  I have to iron all my pants and I think that's tragic!  People have given me hints and things to do, but none of them have worked so far.  :(

3.  My fleece blanket.  I miss it so bad! I need to buy one, but I don't know where to get it.  I'm thinking Amazon.  Everyone in Europe have duvets which are nice for normal temperatured people.  I'm a cold person and I need my snuggly blanket - I had to kick it out when I didn't have room in my suitcase.  :'(  So tragic!

Things I Have in Germany that I won't in the States:

1. Bakeries on every corner with super fresh bread and amazing pastries. YUM!

2. Beautiful historical cities that are walking distance. I get to walk beside a gorgeous river almost every day. It's just breathtaking.

3. Buses and trains are clean and safe. I can take a train or plane for a pretty reasonable price and be in a different country where they speak a different language and have a completely different culture.

4. Outside time. Any excuse to be outside and Germans are there! If it's cold? No problem, we'll provide a blanket for you. By the way, the indoor places during cold weather are extremely hot. (okay, now it is coldish, not really cold, but I still sweat indoors.) Hot enough to make you wish you had warn your bathing suit under your clothes.

5. Games - there are so many new games that I have never heard of! I played something called Camel up at game night and it was amazing!

6. Groups - If I wanted to, I could join a group, a class, a get together, a meet-up and be busy every night of the week. I'm currently in a English group (so Germans can practice English), a Game Group (so Germans can practice their English), and I'm contemplating seriously about taking a flamenco dance class.

There are no checks in Germany/Stuttgart & a Free Bike, Shopping.

Rent is Late.
I asked a friend at work about how to pay rent, and they said that it was automatically taken out of the bank account.  So, when I went to the ATM to check my balance and on around the 8th of September and I was surprised they hadn't taken out the money from my checking account yet.  Later that day, I got a not so nice e-mail about my rent being late.  No one told me that I had to go to the bank and set up an online bank account and get an automatic transfer to the rent company.  When I went to the bank I asked about checks.  They said that no one uses checks except for big businesses.  The bank only sees 1 or 2 checks per day.  It seems that everything - paying for all bills like cell phone service, rent, insurance, and even school lunches - are paid through a bank transfer.  So, I went to the bank where they speak English thank heaven and set up my online banking, an automatic draft to pay rent, and a transfer to pay rent the next day.  I am getting all these official letters, some of them with dollar amounts and I have no idea what it is or what they are saying.  I take them to school and have someone translate for me!  Thank heaven I have people who speak German!  Hopefully I'm not late with other bills and hopefully I can read the screen for my online banking!! Wish me luck!!!

Stuttgart and a Free Bike
Today instead of having regular church in Ulm, several congregations (called a stake) met in Stuttgart to have a stake conference.  I was debating on going because it is an 1 1/2 hour train ride, but I talked to my friend Bianca about it and we decided to go together because it would cost 1/2 the price if we were together.  She was also willing to stay after and show me around the town.  As I was waiting for Bianca while she talked with her friends from the stake (she is moving in 3 weeks), I saw some people from my congregation (called a ward) and they spoke English, so I started to talk with them.  I told them that I was going to buy a bike tomorrow probably.  They said, "We have his bike in our cellar.  I am sure you can use it."  So, I asked the bike's owner if I could use it.  He said, "I have a bike in your cellar?  Really?  Wow.  Yes, you can use it.  I didn't even know I had it!"  So, I have a free bike.  They said it probably needs fixing up a little since it has been in there for a long time, but it is mine and it would be cheaper than buying one.  So, I got blessings for going to church!  Also, I got to meet a few people from the Stuttgart International Ward.  It has about 200 people attending and they all speak English!  I am thinking about going there a few times just to meet people!

Touring around Stuttgart
It is Sunday, so no stores were open, not that I would go shopping anyway, but we walked around and saw this beautiful plaza in the middle of downtown with great music playing.  There were fountains everywhere and some great buildings with fun architecture.

 I love fountains.  There were all types of interesting and beautiful fountains all over Stuttgart.  I look forward to going back and discovering even more!

This little courtyard had several museums attached to it.
They all looked interesting and I think
I'll go back another weekend to take a look inside.

I love these clocks they have everywhere.  If you are late in Germany there must be something wrong.  Not only are they extremely visible, they also chime every 15 minutes.

My super cute and fun friend Bianca who was nice enough to join my on my excursion!

A map of Stuttgart and all the fun places to see.

This was a palace where royalty lived.

Stuttgart's main square has several very cool fountains.

The best part about today was hanging out with someone and chatting about life.  It's too bad she is moving soon, but I'm looking forward to visiting her in Dresden.  (Woo hoo!  Another place to visit!)

















I Hate Shopping
If you know me well at all, you will know that I hate shopping.  I once gave my roommate a credit card and said, I need a dress, please go buy it for me.  I have a gay friend that works with me at school, he said that he knew where some second hand shops are in Ulm.  I figured if anyone could help me with shopping, it would be him.  He dresses really well.  So, on Monday he took me to one.  I tried several things on, but nothing fit me - it was all too small.  I decided that if everything was too small there, I would go to a big girls shop and there, everything was too big.  UGH!  Luckily my friend told me where to go (She used to live in Germany).  So on Tuesday, I went shopping again, I found things that fit me!  Woo hoo what a relief, I won't freeze during the winter!  The weather had been pretty chilly for a few days and then luckily it warmed up for the weekend.  On Friday, I went to the beer garden with a lot of teachers from school and they mentioned they were going to go dirndl shopping.  Dirndls are the traditional German dress.  They invited me to go along and I said no because I already tortured myself twice already during the week.  Friday night a friend and I were chatting on WhatApp and said it sounded like fun, so I messaged them and said that I would like to join them.  At first nothing fit, then I finally discovered the correct size and wala!  It not only fit, it looked good!  So, now I want to wear nothing but the dirndl every day so I can look cute!  Where I am, I see people wearing them on a regular basis, but I think I'll stick with special occasions.  It also looks a little like Jane Austen age, so we may have a dirndl/Jane Austen party just so we can wear them!  Lol!

 The one on the left is the traditional dirndl, the one on the right is me trying to make it a Jane Austen dress (minus the apron).

The one on the bottom is one I tried on, but I didn't keep.