Day 5: Nuremberg, Germany

On our way home from Prague, we stopped in Nuremberg for lunch, since it was the halfway point.  We weren’t sure what we were going to find there, but there happened to be this fun percussion band playing outside of the visitor’s center.

Trier and Saarbrucken

 

I am finally back again and am posting on a little trip we took that was soo long ago (middle of May) that I now cannot remember all of the details of it.  So lucky for you, you pretty much get to look at a bunch of pictures :)

Garmisch Part 3: Alpspitz

During our “free time” we decided to head to the top of the Alpspitz which is the second tallest point in Germany.  The Zugspitz is the tallest, but it cost 3 times as much to go to the top of it and there isn’t anything to do up there.  At the Alpspitz they have hiking trails and activities for kids.

Words of Wisdom From a 6 Year Old

 

The last two days I have been feeling very discouraged about my progress with learning German.  I’m in two different classes with the same teacher for moms in Ethan’s school and moms in a neighboring school who need to learn the language and I am apparently the one who knows the least.  In fact, it seems as though everyone else can understand and speak the language fairly well.  Our teacher is a German lady who knows very little English and so she speaks only German.  In theory, this is very good because I’m forced to use only German.  However, I have no idea what anyone is saying or asking or doing.  I pick up a few words here and there and am getting very good at reading body language, but typically I have no idea what is going on.  The rest of the ladies are from different countries and so I have no one to speak to unless I can figure out how to say it in German.  I usually tell myself that it’s no big deal and I’m doing great having only been in the country for 5 months and the other ladies have been here for 10+ years, but for some reason this week it has really gotten to me.  I have been really frustrated with it and myself for not remembering the vocabulary and recognizing or understanding words.  I have a lot of stories of idiotic moments I have had in class.  It is a very humbling experience.

After realizing how I have been feeling I started to really worry about Ethan and what he must be going through because he is in a similar situation, but probably worse.  So today after school I asked him if he ever gets frustrated with the language.

Ethan: “What do you mean?”

Me:  “Do you ever get frustrated not being able to understand what people are saying to you or know what is going on around you?”

Ethan:  “No.  Do you?”

Me:  “Very much so.”

Ethan:  “You can’t let yourself get frustrated, Mom.  You just have to know that it will come and keep trying.  I’m understanding a lot more now and it’s getting a lot easier.”

Ethan is a very wise 6 year old!  He amazes me everyday with his positive attitude and his perseverance.  I’m hoping I can be like him someday.

Starting off the Season Right

Halloween and Thanksgiving came and went so quickly that it didn’t really even feel like they happened.  So we are really wanting to get into the Christmas spirit this year.  This afternoon we wanted to do it right by going to our very first German Christmas Market.  It was as much fun as I thought it would be, but super cold.  We’ve been home for almost two hours now and my toes are still frozen.  I’m a little worried about this winter and whether or not I will survive it.  As you can see from the pictures, it is already snowing and sticking.  It sure does make things beautiful though.

The Christmas Market was full of good smelling food, yummy hot chocolate, shops with all kinds of fun trinkets, music, lights and christmas decorations.  It definitely got me into the spirit and of course we didn’t come away empty handed.  In fact, there are chocolate covered strawberries on a stick downstairs that I’m dying to try, but I have to wait for James to get home.  This is taking a lot of restraint and self-control on my part!

Ethan looks so happy and full of energy right here, ready to go explore the market.  It didn’t last though, he was dragging by the end and fell asleep on the way home.  I think that means he had a good time.

 

That IS Ethan in the picture, if you can find him.  It was so pretty with all of the Christmas lights.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Rudesheim was a great place to go for our first market, but it is not going to be our last.  We are going to try to go to another one this weekend, maybe in Weisbaden.  I can’t wait to see what we will find there.  I have the christmas shopping bug in me now.

Auerbach Castle

Our first castle experience!!  We ventured there while we were still in the army hotel, so this was over a month ago.  This was before the leaves were really starting to turn colors and while we could still wear short sleeves.  I put a lot of pictures on here, but keep in mind that this is actually only about 1/3 of what I took.  It was hard to narrow it down, it was such a fun experience for us.

 

This is the outside of the castle as we walk up to it.

    

These buildings are just outside the castle.  they have the restaurant, snack bar, and gift shop in them.

 

    

         

It was so amazing to look out at the city and hills surrounding the castle.  It was very beautiful there and you felt very high up.

                      

            

This tree was my favorite part.

         

I didn’t realize it until I looked back at these pictures and saw that Ethan was wearing his USA shirt.  That explains why people were staring at us so much.  You get a lot of stares when people realize you are American.  I try to have him avoid wearing that when we are out in the economy, but somehow it slipped passed me.  He’s just proud to be an American, I guess.  It’s his favorite shirt.

If only I could get one of these for our house for time out.

Two Months of Adventures!

I can’t believe it’s been two months since I’ve posted anything. A lot has happened since then. We are now in Wiesbaden, Germany and here is a picture of our view from our hotel. It is such a beautiful place to be. The last two months we have been in Texas and Utah visiting family and friends. Here are a few pictures and videos from our adventures.

After James’ graduation, we packed up the car, left Monterey, California, and headed to Texas.

We decided to make the three day trip a little more exciting by stopping at the Grand Canyon halfway. It was well worth the extra hour.

In San Antonio we stopped by a really fun animal park, where you get to drive around and feed the animals out of your hand. There are some that are starving for attention and some that are starving for food. They were so cute.

On Pioneer Day, we decided to try something new…ice blocking. It was so much fun, but a bit scary.

Now we are in Germany and trying to get used to the change in culture, language, time, and everything else that is different, but loving every minute of it. Here are a few pictures we took on the top of the roof of our hotel.

I can see the wheels turning here.

These are from the inside of our hotel. The sky is so beautiful here.