Germany Week 20 - Preparing for Christmas

My weeks on these videos always seem to start off on the Wednesday of the week. On Wednesday I had a nice dinner with Trez, Janne, and Anika. Anika will be leaving to go back home and won't return until March. It will be sad to see her go, but she will be back! Thursday was a concert at the Frauenkirche, from the choir that my host dad sings in. They did awesome and it was a great concert. Trez, Janne, and I hung out on Friday and didn't do much other than chill and have some Schnapps. On Saturday, Mike from our program came to visit Dresden for a couple days. He lives in Leipzig current, and it was cool to have dinner with him. The week was more relaxed, because everyone (including myself) is gearing up for Christmas. Be sure to tune in for Christmas week and then New Year's! Can't wait to see what's next!

Germany Week 19 - Best Friends' Visit

Week 19 in Germany was definitely one of the best ones I have had so far. On Wednesday I went to meet Anh, Trez, Anika, and Janne at Anh's place to make vietnamese food and watch a soccer game. The food was good and we had lots of fun. After that I went to the Hauptbahnhof(Main train station) to pick up Haley. One of my long lost friends from Cologne was finally here. We had lots of fun. Throughout those days we saw the sights of Dresden, we visited many wonderful Christmas markets, and as always, had some awesome food. Patty, another long lost friend in Cologne came to stay also in Dresden with me on Friday. We had an awesome bar outing with Trez and Anh. And for future reference to Haley's logic, if you like tomato soup, that does not mean in any way, shape, or form, that you will like a "Bloody Mary" drink. We all learn things the hard way. The weekend was great, and now it is time to settle for a couple days. I'm feeling very confident about Germany, speaking the language, getting an internship, etc. I have also just started learning Russian, so I guess we will see how that goes! Next week should be just as fun filled!

Germany Week 18 - Christmas Markets, Leipzig, and a Wild Concert

Week 18 in Germany started off a bit slow I have to say, I was extremely exhausted from my trip to Prague. The week didn't really start off until Thursday. I woke up early that morning and went to a city called Meißen(Meissen) which is a city that is northwest of Dresden. It's a beautiful little city and I am very glad to have gone. One day I will visit back there for some of those famous porcelain/fine china in the whole world. Later on I went to Dresden's Striezelmarkt with many friends. It too, was very beautiful. We had a serious storm up in the northern part of Germany, so down in Dresden we had heavy winds, almost freezing temperatures, and rain. It was absolutely miserable to exist in. I will definitely be going back there for a more in depth look. On Friday I went to class, went Christmas shopping, and then boarded a train to Leipzig. I stayed with a 28th year German PPPler that lives in Leipzig, we had fun. The reason I went to Leipzig was for the "Eisbrecher" concert. It was an amazing concert, I'm so glad I went. Just have a look at the video and you can see all about it!

I have also uploaded nearly 9 full songs from the Eisbrecher concert, so if the music in the video interested you, go check out those videos too!

https://www.youtube.com/user/adventuresingermany/

Germany Week 17 - Prague Wasn't Ready

Week 17 in Germany was definitely a much happier and upbeat one than last week. As you might have known, I was feeling pretty down and somewhat frustrated with everything. My spirits were first lifted on Tuesday when I received two large packages from my awesome parents. They had sent every sort of food from America that I could possibly miss. I was quite thankful for them doing such a thing. I even received a 3rd large package on Wednesday with more goodies in it, so I am stocked up on American foods. Thursday was the day of reckoning. I and two other Americans(Kelsey and Trez) were tasked with preparing Thanksgiving dinner in Germany for about 15 guests. I must say that it was quite a challenge, but by God did we do it. We had guests from many different countries and we were able to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner here in Germany. And the next day on Friday, Trez, Anh, and myself left Dresden for the amazing city of Prague for the weekend. If you do not know Prague, go look it up! It is by far one of the most beautiful cities in the world, of course located in the Czech Republic. We had a blast in Prague, and definitely felt we gained much confidence from that trip. There is nothing like going to a foreign country and not knowing the language at all or having a plan of where we should have even been going. It was most unplanned, we just sort of went for it so-to-say. This week's video is jam packed with all of these adventures. We were ready for Prague, Prague wasn't ready for us!

Germany Week 16 - The Faces of Shawn

Week 16 in Germany has honestly been a bit of a rough one. It has been depressing, productive, and happy all within one week. It has been very gray, rainy, and cold this entire week and I've really noticed how it affects my mood. It makes me homesick, and just the grayness makes me sad. Besides all that, I was able to finish my main cover letter and apply to many internships and send out important emails about the volunteer work that I must do for my program. It feels nice to have some of that out of the way. This week includes showings of the many goods foods I eat(naturally), a face that could go down in history(why do I make these strange faces), a couple nights out with Trez and Kelsey, and of course an Irish pub for the weekend! It's really amazing what a good breakfast with bacon and eggs and a little sunshine can do for one's mood. Fear not, I will be alright, I'm feeling quite optimistic! Lots of things to do these next few weekends, stay tuned for the adventures!

Germany Week 15 - The Fabled Quest for Bubble Tea

Week 15 here in Germany, marking 3 1/2 months here in this foreign land. This past week was filled with awesome friends, wonderful food, and more memories to add to the collection of a lifetime. Of course, as I went to my classes as usual, I met up with friends along the way, hang out, found some decent bubble tea, and prepared for another fun weekend. Friday was spent with 7 other awesome people, 4 French, an American, and 2 Englishmen. I must say, for having done nearly nothing the entire night, we still managed to have a blast. And yay for not missing my train this time. It's been a quiet Sunday here and this upcoming week will hopefully be filled with events, because I only have courses to go to on Tuesday and Friday. The quest for REAL bubble tea must continue!

Germany Week 14 - Party of the Western World

Finally everything is starting to settle down a bit, although I have to admit I am feeling a bit of homesickness. And for any of you that were wondering about my internship phase. I have looked around at a few different companies. My host dad knows of a local Dresden radio station. I think that would be a really neat place to work! So I will report back on that later. This week included eating out at some cool places, going to the Elbepark Mall with Trez, and going to a super awesome party with Americans, Germans, Italians, French, Irish, and Russians! Hence the title. Hope to definitely do some traveling in these next upcoming weeks. I also have to say I am super excited for the Christmas markets that will be opening here in the next few weeks. Hope all is well for all of you people back home in America, miss you all!

German Week 13 - Frauenkirche Concert

I have just recently hit the 3 month mark here in Germany, and 1 month here in Dresden. It was a fun week, for once not actually filled with stress. Monday was just normal classes and hanging out with Trez and Kelsey at a student bar/restaurant. Tuesday, I had to go register for a German course and luckily made it in. It's strange being the only American there, definitely not many of us in Dresden. Thursday we left in the morning for Jena, a somewhat large university city in the Bundesland(State) of Thüringen. The city is very pretty and Falk's family was very welcoming. We went later on that day through Naumberg, Freiberg, and then to our final destination of Zscheiplitz(pronounced for us Americans like "Chai-plits." We were greeted by Kerstin's parents and again with a very warm welcome. We enjoyed many great foods and wonderful company. Saturday was a big concert at the Frauenkirche, with the choir that Falk sings in, and also accompanied by a large orchestra. They put on an awesome show, and I was really glad to have seen it. Trez, Kelsey, and I went out later that night and hung out with some very cool medical student friends of Trez, it's been a great week. Hopefully will be going to Berlin in two weeks from now! Tune in for this week's video!

Germany Week 12 - Weightless

Wow am I feeling about 8,000,000 times better than I was last week. I feel myself, and I'm feeling even better! It was a relaxing week, university wasn't really stressful and it was chill. I only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So I'm pretty okay with being off every other day! Tuesday Trez, Kelsey, and I met up with Hannes and Friedemann to eat at a cool cafe. Wednesday was the restaurant Schwerelos, where the food and drinks come with a little rollercoaster system. Schwerelos means "Weightless," so I thought with this week it might be appropriate! Thursday was a chill day, only a meeting with my super cool tandem partner! Friday was a fun night with Trez, Nick, and Sam. I'd have to say this was the most enjoyable weekend so far here in Dresden, great weather, great friends, and chilling out. You can't ask for much more than that. This week I was NOT lazy about my video, so I hope you guys enjoy!

Today marks 4 weeks in Dresden and nearly 3 months in Germany!

 

Germany Week 11 - Stressful German University

Week 11 here in Germany, have to say that this week has probably been the most stressful one during my stay here so far. University has been very confusing, and even after a week I have still not been able to finalize my schedule, we will have to see what is in store. Throughout the week I tried many different(and awesome) foods from Russia, Italy, and of course, evermore from Germany. I am glad to be settled into Dresden and say that I know the city, at least a bit. This video is shorter because of my recent sickness that I was lucky enough to get on Saturday. Had the flu(or something awful) for a couple days and am still recovering. I feel much better today, but I can tell that something is still a little off. I will get through this, I know it! All the best wishes to friends and family at home!

Germany Week 10 - Bringin' it Down

2nd week here in Dresden already. And here I am at week 10 of my stay here in Germany. With the start of my university classes coming up quick I am becoming more and more nervous. I can do this though! To start off this week's video there is wonderful footage of the beautiful place known here in Germany as the Sächsische Schweiz. It literally translates and the Saxish Switzerland. It has beautiful sandstone mountains and is quite a sight to see. All throughout the video is my own little personal Altstadt(Old City) tour, visiting with friends, exploring around, eating delicious foods, meeting awesome people, and don't forget, Luke and Trez dancing on stage at a club. DO NOT MISS THAT PART, simply click at 10:00 for the dancing. I really cannot express how fond I've grown of this city so fast. I feel as if I've already settled in and that I can call this place my home. My host family is still always as wonderful as ever to me. This next coming week will definitely feature a bit of university, my adventures, and maybe some of my sports classes I want to sign up for. I'm think Horse Riding and also Archery. Sounds pretty cool to me!

Germany Week 9 - First Week in Dresden!

Can it already be week 9 of my time here in Germany. Wow has it been cool. This week I moved to the beautiful city of Dresden. For all of you who don't know, Dresden sits tucked away near the borders of the Czech Republic and Poland in the east most part of Germany. It is a city populated by roughly 500,000 people and the city itself resides within the state of Saxony(Sachsen in German). This week involved moving to this awesome city to be greeted by my host family, our tutor Falko, and our GIZ representative. It felt like a very warm welcome. Although, it literally did not feel so warm, the temperature had dropped nearly 15 degrees(Fahrenheit) after leaving Cologne. Adventures this week include making dinner a few different times with friends, many meals with a wonderful host family, trips to the University and to Ikea, exploring the city, Stammtisch(regular's table of people) with host dad, having a super awesome BBQ on Saturday with everyone, and then going out later to meet a German PPPler and her friend to go to an Irish pub, it was an excitement-filled week, and I hope that I have many more like it!

And a very special thanks to my host family for being so welcoming. I really enjoy how I feel so included in everything. It will make my 10 months(nearly) here in Germany an absolutely wonderful one!

 

Germany Week 8 - Last Week in Cologne

Cheers to a last week here in Cologne. Had to say many goodbyes these past few days but I am still confident that the friends I have made here will still be lifelong friends to come. This week on Monday we visited St. Ursula's Church, where the bones of 11,000(or so) people are arranged in artistic patterns upon the wall. Very incredible to see. Throughout the week we had to present our final group projects at the CDC. I was able to spend more time with my CDC class and the wonderful people I've had the privilege of staying with here in Cologne. Friday was an International Dinner, saw many people before they left for their new cities in Germany. Saturday was an awesome lunch at a Korean restaurant with PPPlers, a BBQ with my host family and roommates, and finishing out the night by hanging out near the Kölner Dom and enjoying the company of all of my wonderful friends. I will miss everyone in Cologne and I wish you all the best!!

Germany Week 7 - Munich Oktoberfest and Neuschwanstein Castle

Another fantastic week it has been in the world of Germany. This week kicked off a little slow as usual, with my editing day on Sunday or Monday then chilling for another day. Throughout the video is some everyday life footage here in Germany, this week is the supermarket! But moving on to the weekend is where things become very interesting. Dawn, Katherine and I tried out "Mitfahrgelegenheit" where you travel with other people that are going to the same destination so it's cheaper for everyone. We all had a blast at Oktoberfest in Munich with our Lederhosen (for men) and Dirndls (for women). I spent this weekend with Dawn, Sam, Katherine, Cort, Dan, and Zack, all PPPlers except for Dan who was a friend of Katherine's. On Sunday we visited the famous Neuschwanstein Castle which is what Disney modeled their logo from. We even dipped into Austria briefly. So over the course of my 2 months here in Germany after have never leaving the country before, in this stretch of time I have visited five other different countries. And I hope to add at least 5 more to that list by the end of this year, if not more! 

On September 30th I will be moving to Dresden for 9 1/2 months for my "permanent" placement. We shall see how the video situation will be from there, take a look for the week!

Germany Week 6 - Crazy Weekend

2 week countdown until my arrival to Dresden, but let's not forget the time here! Another fun filled week as week 6 of my stay here in Germany arrives. And oh so fast it has passed me again. We start off this wonderful week with dinner with friends, showings of class, and gearing up for the weekend. Friday night involved, you guessed it, RAVING IN THE FOREST. It was pretty awesome, the music was better this time, but SCHADE(German word I overuse meaning "Too bad"), it rained while we were there. Saturday, I and a few PPPlers went to hang out with the 29th year German PPPlers. We had tons of fun, drank, hung out, spoke German, went to a club, danced til 3 in the morning, and then the next day, we went to see them again for a BBQ. 

I'm also very excited to say that I will have a host family in Dresden. I cannot wait to meet them. They sound very nice and have recently wrote me back. Also having met my awesome tutor in Dresden, I have been reassured that he will help me, and I won't be on my own as I had originally thought. So here we go for the week!

Germany Week 5 - Paris Trip!

What a wonderful week it has been, the video is a tad later than usual due to my late night arrival from Paris this past Sunday. The week started off with a random marching band marching down my tiny little street, a delicious restaurant outing with David and Trez, and a PPPler Stammtisch at the Kölner Dom. The week went on with having dinner with good friends, and gearing up for the weekend to Paris! We did everything there from roam the city, see the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Notre Dame, and much more. We ate a full 3 course meal at a fancy french Cafe. And ended out with a bang of partying at a club until 5 in the morning. We waited in line briefly at the Eiffel Tower and decided we were climbing to the second level of it by stairs. Wow, that was extremely tiring, but oh so worth it. The view of the city is vast and beautiful. Paris is a gorgeous city with an interesting culture, I recommend that everyone should go there once in their life.

Germany Week 4 - Partying, and Some MASSIVE Schnitzel

I can't believe it has already been a month since I arrived here in Germany. As I had said before, it seems the time flies and yet goes oh so slow all at the same time. This was quite an eventful week in Germany. This week's adventures include a couple different delicious cafes near where I live, a long day with friends, lots of improving of German, and a party to end out the week. Of course I have been meeting more great people as I have went on. To think that I will be in Dresden in a month from today, wow that is a little scary. I still have not yet found out about my living situation, but I know it is sort of up in the air between an international dorm and a host family. I know I'd really like to have a host family, so I'll keep my fingers crossed. It's been a great week and I'm over my sickness, so here's what's going on!

 

Germany Week 3 - Concert Weekend and Gamescom 2013

Week 3 here in Germany, can't believe how the time flies! This week consisted of: living daily life, doing daily life things, waiting on the weekend, taking an awesome "field trip" to the Augustusburg Castle in Brühl, Germany, and going to Gamescom later that day! The weekend turned out to be quite an eventful one. During all of these different times, I always had good company. Saturday night, we went to a concert with a series of bands that were playing an outdoor show in celebration of Gamescom. The bands that played were Trümmer, Susanne Blech, Flo Mega and the Ruffcats, and Tocotronic. It was a really really odd combination of bands together, but was very fun. Susanne Blech was REALLY great, with their combination of fast paced electronica, good beats, and German rap, they performed a fantastic show. Ending out the night with friends going to a club to dance more was the right thing to do. I've always said, good company and good music is all I need for a great time.

P.S: I have switched around my video rendering settings, and they now look 100 times better than all of my previous videos. No more of that blurriness whenever the camera pans over, so you will be seeing this quality from now on, enjoy!

 

Germany Week 2 - Amsterdam Trip!

Here we go for another summation of the week. Life in Germany is still yet fantastic. During this week, I felt I had come down from what I can only call in these exact words, a "traveling high." Life is still great, but rather than feeling as if I'm on vacation, I now feel as if I can begin calling Cologne my home. I am now a registered resident of Cologne with official papers, so this must all be true. The past week was spent with friends from all different countries across the world. Earlier in the week we had gotten to know each other a bit better before our wild trip to Amsterdam. The whole week was living in anticipation for this trip. Amsterdam is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Its people are interesting, the city is always alive, the 70 something canals that run throughout the city can always be seen filled with boat tours, house boats, restaurants, and personal leisure boats, ALL WITHIN THE CITY. This past weekend I got to know many new people and really get to enjoy those that I was with, we bonded and all is good. Here we go for week 2 in Germany(and Amsterdam)!!!!

Germany Week 1 - New Bestest Friends at a Rave

The title is only a small fraction of all the things that have happened during this week. I have made many new friends and done a billion new different things. Living life here isn't that different from the US in the sense of living styles. I actually sat down and thought about it, I'm doing different things, I'm living on my own, my living habits are different, the person/people I live with are different, my eating habits are different, my personality in German is different, it's actually entirely correct to say that my life is COMPLETELY different right now. And it's not a bad thing! I've explored the beautiful city of Cologne, learned many more things about it's people, learned some Kölsch dialect of speaking, gotten stuck on a train with no one in it, cooked and eaten many new things, seen a thousand different new things, Germany is treating me well, and I only hope things will be up from here!

Kölner Dom

I had to show this picture I took, I was so proud of myself!!

Kölner Dom in Köln Deutschland

More Orientation and Germany!

You heard it right folks! I am now writing to you from my host family's flat that they own. It is very neat here. It is my 3rd day here in Germany, although the first one was spent in a very remote area close to Frankfurt, it only feels like 1 1/2 real German days. It was very cool to meet my host family, they are very nice and very good to me. I live upstairs on the third floor, it is 2 flats connected together, very interesting. Tomorrow, an Italian student will come to stay in one of the other guest rooms, so sharing this living space with him will be very cool, and I hope he becomes a good friend of mine. Finally, ich bin in Deutschland!!!!

My channel: http://youtube.com/adventuresingermany

Off to Germany

It's very early in the morning here, but I figured I had some spare time. This won't be too long of a post due to the ridiculously busy day that I and 74 other CBYXers have coming up. I've had thoughts of excitement, fear, joy, and all of the above really. All that I can say is: "I can do this!" I'll be flying from Dulles International Airport to Frankfurt, Germany in about 9 hours. Nothing is surreal anymore, what I mean is, I think it really finally hit me. I hope to keep you all updated. Bis Dann!!

Final Week in America!

This past week has been the longest and shortest week ever. I was lucky enough to have a great lunch with coworkers and be able to hang out with my 3 childhood best friends. Times were great with them, more than a 1000 stories to tell with them! Washington, DC has been an amazing city. It’s full of life and culture, it has a much different feel than Cincinnati has. It is really interesting to walk into a crowd of people and hear 8 different languages, it shows how diverse this nation has become. Yesterday, July 28th I met with 10 other CBYXers. All of them were amazing peoples, from all different walks of life, though we still have the same goals with this program! Germany is coming up so quickly as I write this morning. With it nearing 10 A.M I have only maybe 6 hours until I leave family to stay at Georgetown University. The campus is really awesome from what I have seen of it. I will make sure to get many pictures and video of it while I’m there. I can’t promise that this coming week’s video will be on time with this orientation, and all this other hectic stuff like going to Germany and whatnot. I will try my best, but I can leave you all with this past week’s video, my final full week in America!

www.youtube.com/adventuresingermany

Less than 2 Weeks Left!

I sure can't believe it either. To think that next week on Thursday I will set foot upon a foreign land, so many feelings, a few I might not be familiar with. I'm also sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blog as well. I've realized over the course of this past month of doing videos, that I do a select bunch of things, and then I do them again. I don't believe it's a bad things, I just seem to repeat the things that I like. I'm ready to get away from all that and constantly be doing new, exciting things. This upcoming week will be full of some of those new things. Leaving for Washington DC at 4 A.M on Saturday morning. Oh, that will be joyous. (Warning: May contain slight trace amounts of sarcasm) This week will be weird for my video, hopefully the hotel WiFi will allow me to upload at a decent rate. Although, I cannot make any promises.

Luckily, I have all my important stuff done, just need to pick up a few things from the store and I should be good to go. This week's video includes kittens, a visit to the Cheesecake Factory, a visit to my Grandma's in a pretty little town and lots mores. Without further ado, Allons-y! (According to the 10th Doctor, in Doctor Who, it means "Let's go!" in French)

Less than 3 Weeks Left

Less than 3 weeks until I will be in the beautiful city of Cologne, Germany. I've whined for quite a while about how slow the time was going. Now, it seems as if time has flown, and I have to say, I'm ready to go. I am ready to start the adventure of a lifetime. And a shoutout to the 29th year PPPlers, I hope you guys had a fantastic year. Thank you for all the tips and help that you've given to us 30th year PPPlers. You all make us feel much better about taking this journey, although it seems that no amount of pep talks could 100% ready us for this adventure! I must say I have also much enjoyed speaking with many of my fellow PPPlers. You all are wonderful fantastic people, and I cannot wait to make this journey with you all! You all must know, none of you are safe from my videos, I will be that guy always taking pictures of everything(and everyone) along with video too! Be ready Germany, 30th year PPPlers on our way!

Less than 4 Weeks Left

I can start counting down the days now, wow it's getting so close! I've been talking with so many CBYXers and it's all getting pretty real. In 25 days I will be flying in to Frankfurt, Germany. I believe after a day or 2 of staying there, all of the CBYXers will be transported off to their respective language school cities. I will be in Cologne, Germany for language school and then for my other 9 month placement I will be somewhere in the state of Saxony.

I've also been practicing my video editing/filming and I have to say, I think even within a week I've improved a bit. It's very fun, so you can be sure I'll be making weekly videos right up until the very end. Here is this week's adventures!

For all other videos: www.youtube.com/adventuresingermany

Waidmanns Heil

The title "Waidmanns Heil" was an old saying by German hunters. It translates something like "Huntsman's Salute" or wishing luck on the hunt. I've chosen the above title today because the nature of what my brother and I were doing today. Although, we were not literally "hunting" anything, we went shooting (in various forms) like we do every so often.

Target shooting is a great way to let off stress or anger (done properly of course), so we chose to go shooting back at our normal spot down near the Licking River, the only other river besides the Nile that flows north. Not too interesting, but worth mentioning. My brother brought along his 60" (1.52m) Shakespeare recurve bow. I brought along my Marlin model 60 .22. I would've brought something of a larger caliber, but living somewhat near others, I didn't want to scare anyone with the noise. I will miss these fun little times with my brother. With only less than a month to go until Germany, time is precious.

He is a good shot, we were pretty far off from that target, and archery is VERY difficult.

 

Shot the piece of that fork off with my .22 about 50-60 feet off, not bad eh?

Drawing back the bow

Props to Tim for this photo, it makes me look SO much more epic than in reality

Gathering more material for this week's video, I'm going to see what sorts of adventures I can get into. Time left here in the U.S is short, but plenty of Germany to come! Bis dann!

This New Video Thing

Yesterday marked a very important start to a more than year long project I have been thinking about doing for the past month or 2. Yesterday, I decided I would start this "project." I want to do weekly videos showcasing my adventures in Germany(and the first ones here in America). I will still write in this blog, maybe not as frequently, but by God I still will! This will be a learning experience for both my audience and I. It's very exciting to be doing something like this. Being a Media Informatics major, I'm going to finally learn to do some video editing! Sony Vegas Pro is a bit challenging, but I'm sure I will get it soon. I hope to keep the videos around 10 minutes, this one is a bit longer because of introductions and whatnot. Hope you guys enjoy this journey along with me!

Oh yes, here is the Youtube Channel: Adventures in Germany, by Shawn Faller

In the first episode, introductions are made, my brother Tim and I have a Bubble Tea adventure, then with some spur of the moment footage at the end!

5 Weeks until Germany!!

Glühwein in June!

The title says it all. I couldn't help it, once I heard of this amazing sounding drink, and then reading up on it a bit, I decided: I will make my own homemade Glühwein. This drink is a seasonal German/Austrian drink that is usually seen around Christmas time at all Weihnachtsmarkts all over. I first encountered the drink when watching a video from one of the 29th PPPlers Samantha Montero. (Link to her channel: Awesome Youtube Channel). Glühwein can be made in an assortment of ways with many different ingredients, depending on what you like. I looked up Glühwein recipes and went off a mixture of the ones I liked the best, some of it was tailored to my likes and me just "winging" it. Here's what you'll need for it: This recipe uses 500 ml of Wine, scale up recipe if you want more, and disclaimer, some of these are strictly guesses, so it might need adjustment on your part.

• Red Wine(500 ml)
• Whole Allspice
• Whole Cloves
• Half an orange, cut in thin slices
• Very finely ground sugar
• Whole Cinnamon Sticks
• 3/4 cup Orange Juice

 

Pour the red wine in a pan, heating it up a bit with a low flame. (DO NOT let it boil) Cut the slices of orange and put 2-3 slices in with 4 of the cloves stuck in the skin of each of them.

Put the oranges in the wine making sure to submerge them, while keeping the low flame on. Half or third two cinnamon sticks and throw them in.

Throw in 2 whole allspice and pour in your 3/4 cup of orange juice. And lastly, evenly pour in about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of finely ground sugar. Stir this all as you go. Stir off and on for about 30 minutes with heat on low, again not letting it boil. Give it a taste, and add more sugar if necessary(which you honestly might have to).

Let it infuse for another 30 minutes, stirring it off and on as you go. Remove oranges/allspice/cinnamon sticks and spoon into cups, and enjoy! Oh and the oranges actually soak up all these flavors quite well so you could eat those if you like too!

Here are some pictures of how my Glühwein turned out, I must say,

 

Es war einfach der Hammer ;)

 All of the many ingredients cooking together

 Glühwein in it's completed form!

I honestly cannot wait until I can try some real Glühwein from a real Weihnachtsmarkt!! I am less than 6 weeks away from being in Germany for an entire year!! You could say I'm just a bit excited. And during Christmas time, I think being able to make my own homemade Glühwein might catch the interest of at least a couple Germans! Hope you guys enjoy, bis dann!

Hofbräuhaus, Amerika!

Guten Tag meine Damen und Herren! Today marks June 16th, better known for me as the month and a half mark to departing for Deutschland for a year! Today will be a short little photo extravaganza(you could hardly call it that) about the beautiful Bierhaus chain known as the "Hofbräuhaus!" (Pronounced like: "Hoffbroyhaus," not "Hoffbrowhaus"). It is a German Bierhaus, the chain was started in München, Deutschland(Munich, Germany) in 1589.

The Hofbräuhaus is known for its delicious beer, extreme quantities of it, and for being one of the only FOUR in the entire United States. I am lucky enough to live a 10 minute drive away from the Newport Hofbräuhaus. I have been there many times before, delicious beer cheese, pretzels, cooked pork, german potato salad and fried cabbage, würst of all kinds, all while enjoying the company of my family or wonderful German class AND listening to a small band playing accordian and small snare set. I was not dining there today, for I had to go there to buy my father a gift. He loves the Hofbräuhaus more than any place in the world, so what better gift than to buy him a gift card to there for father's day!! Happy Father's Day dad!!

Oh and by the way, I might've forgot to mention I found out some small little things about the upcoming CBYX program......... I WAS PLACED IN COLOGNE, GERMANY FOR MY LANGUAGE SCHOOL PLACEMENT FOR THE FIRST TWO MONTHS. So I'm a pretty excited creature, and I have been ALL weekend, what a lovely surprise on a Friday. And to my surprise again, I had not read the PDF file that was sent to us all the way through before I went bouncing around my house to tell everyone. I went back to show them and scrolled down a bit more and found out that, MY FINAL 9 MONTH PLACEMENT WILL BE IN THE BUNDESLAND(State) OF SACHSEN, GERMANY. Words cannot explain how excited I am. Oh, wow this is all getting too real. I'm ready for you Germany, what're you waiting for?!?!?!

Last American Adventure

You might be asking what the title means exactly, think of it not as the end, but rather the beginning of new adventures. During this past week I went on a camping trip to Red River Gorge with fellow PPPler Michael Douglas, my childhood best friend Tyler, awesome Korean exchange student Grace, and other awesome guy Logan. I had camped down there many times prior, but the only other of the group who had been there before was Logan. It was an exciting adventure, and one I will not forget. This is most likely my last big American adventure before I leave for Germany on July 31st. Don't worry guys, less writing and more pictures! Here we go!

After a less than thrilling two hour drive, we arrived near our location only to be in the rain. I was not pleased at this sight, but luckily the rain didn't last long. We drove around the scenic route 715, about 10 miles from the road I liked to camp along. Within this stretch of road is a quarter mile long tunnel through the side of a mountain called Nada Tunnel, carved out entirely by dynamite. It is a one lane road, so traffic has to figure it out for themselves. As one leaves the tunnel they are greeted with the sight of beautiful sandstone cliffs, hills, and small mountains. The road follows along the "Red River" and then goes into a windy incline to the top of the ridges. Along this road is this beautiful spot here: When it rains, it creates this little natural waterfall. And I found my brother and I's initials when we were here 3 months ago.

Tyler looking at the waterfall

Tyler and I climbing up to the top of that waterfall, about 60 feet up

Moss Writings

Tyler was pointing at me to get him his shorts from the car(mind you I was about 200 feet away, with a large creek and the entire area in front of the waterfall to climb around), he wanted to get a shower in that waterfall, sigh Tyler, we don't have time for this, he's quite a trip.

We set up our campsite about 400 feet off a long gravel road called Chimney Top Rock. This road goes up a long high sandstone ridge; spanning in some places only about 100-150 feet across. At the top is a lookout area in which one can see much of the Daniel Boone National Forest. We managed quite a nice campsite, and I must say, with Michael having no camping experience, he was really good with our shelter. Check this out:

From left to right: Tyler, Logan, Grace, and Michael

Oh ya, that's right, we were SET!

 

 

The night was a long one, many of us couldn't sleep, some with the fear of bears, psh, no bears in Red River Gorge if you ask me. I awoke to an interesting sight at the top of the tent. A LARGE wolf spider the size of a coffee plate at the top of our mesh tent, thank God it was on the outside, I still had to contain myself, as everyone was asleep. The spider and I later became friends, had a few drinks together, played some games, and had to go our separate ways, you shall be missed dear spider. (What's wrong with me)

We went up to visit Chimney Top Rock, pictures never quite do it justice:

Grace and Tyler up at Chimney Top

Logan at Chimney Top

 

 

Michael, Me, Grace, and Logan after our night of camping

The land was vast!

We moved on to go to a trail I loved to hike, and had done so as a kid growing up. The Natural Bridge trail is one that almost everyone who knows the Red River Gorge is familiar with. A 1/2 mile hike up to a natural sandstone bridge, formed by an ocean that was once here 60 million years ago, when the entirety of Kentucky was submerged under water.

 

 

 

Spot at Natural Bridge trail where if you were too fat, you literally could not fit through, it did not leave that much room.

I wasn't kidding about it being narrow, crazy though!

Walking out onto Natural Bridge, no railings, so don't lean too far!

A view of Devil's Gulch from on the "Natural Bridge"

An island of rock I must get to someday

On "Devil's Gulch"

Red River from atop Devil's Gulch

Seeing Natural Bridge from Devil's Gulch

We hiked a different path down from Natural Bridge and came across more beautiful and interesting things.

The trail passed this natural cave, it was much larger than it looks currently

Michael with a spiderweb being weighed down by water droplets.

Thank you Mr. Michael Douglas for your great photos, Ohne dich, dieses Blogpost könnte sein. Danke schön!!!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. And if it is my last American adventure for a while, I'd be okay with that. I came to know all of them well, and we enjoyed our time together. Natural beauty covers this world. Seek out this beauty, preserve it as we preserve our friendship and our love for others. I cannot wait to make these lifelong friendships with my other fellow PPPlers and many others. We have quite a year ahead of us. 54 days until we depart for Deutschland. And to my friends, thank you for being part of my life, and thank you everyone else for always supporting me. Life has shown me bliss I have never seen, and I hope it lasts. Until next time, my friends.