Family Party and Burg Eltz!

Hey Friends and Family!!!



Well, sorry that I did not update yesterday, however, it was quite a busy day for Matthew and I.


5-27-08
We had a huge party for our Host Families at the AltRathaus from 5-9 last night. All of the students went and made food (American type food), I made two different fruit salads (one with whipped cream and mixed fruit and the other with orange juice, sugar, and mixed fruit. Matthew bought chips and brought them, lol.)



Anway, making the fruit salad was a .....challenge. At home, my family usually uses coolwhip to make their fruit salads, Deustchland, on the other hand, does not have such a thing as cool whip. SO.... I had to resort to using whipping cream (yes, that means you actually have to take the time to whip it into its semi fluffy form.) Well... I started going on this and my roommates and a couple girls from our program had bought pizza in town and were going to eat it at our house. Several of them had made whipping cream before, and could tell it was not getting anwhere for me.



So they took over. Jessica and Paula both took turns hoding the bowl and the beater while the other would hold up a cloth, so the others clothing wouldn't get splattered.



They did this, while another girl Kate, and myself chopped up the fruit.



Jessica and Paula became a bit overzealous with the whipping cream and all of a sudden I heard them both scream "NO!!!" The fat had separated from the water and we now had ....Butter.



At this point in time, we were laughing, but at the same time, worried, becuase I had bought 4 packs of whipping cream and we had just used three. So my host mother came down to see what all the ruckus was abuot and we showed her, she laughed, told us to add salt and chives to the butter and we would have a nice bread spread. lol.



But then she told me that if I needed more whipping cream she had some upstairs (can anyone say savior?). So Jessica and Paula started a fresh while Kate and I kept chopping. In the end it all turned out all right. We had chopped so much fruit, that we had to make two salads, hence one with whipped cream and one with orange juice and sugar.



And to top it all off, Laura and Paula use the accidentially made butter to make their grilled cheese sandwiches for the party. HAHA!

The party was a huge success. Matt and I got there early so we could warm up and hear ourselvse in the space. And then... everyone started showing up. We decorated the rooms with colored ballons and got all the food set up.

Most of the host families arrived late. My host father Eckhard (Ecky) was the first one to arrive and Matt's Family followed soon there after. Tobi came over as soon as he was finished with work and Mariana came just before our presentation started.

The food was enjoyed by all and there was plenty of beer, radlers, lemonade, water with bubbles, and coca cola to be had! I was starving, so I decided to eat before singing, Matthew did not. Every time he would ask Frau Lucht when the presentation would started she would keep saying in about 5 minutes. It went this way for about 2 hours. lol. Poor Matt, he was so hungry.

When the presenation finally did get underway, I was the first to sing. I of course sang a German song by Schubert "Heidenröslein". Everyone loved it ( I did it accapella becuase we could not find any music for it without vocals. Then Matthew sang "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" from "Die Zauberflöte". He of course acted very much like Papageno, maybe not so chatotic as the stage version, but very bird like and hilarious! He was met with thunderous applause. After this, a girl from Msu, who I am sorry to say....cannot sing, sang "Dankeshane" the Wayne Newton version. I must admit, basically no one in the room could look at her while she was singing because I think one... I believe she might have been partially drunk, and two... well..... who would want to follow two classically trained singers?

After it was finished, we played water pong with our host families. The kids wanted to play beer pong, however, our professors wouldn't hear of it, so water pong it was. Ages from 9 to 80 had tons of fun, not to mention we were loud as.... well we were really loud! haha.

After we cleaned up, Matthew walked me to a near by telephone booth where I finally made contact with my mother! Thank God!

It was so nice to talk to her, and apparently she had had a very unfortunate event. When I had tried to called her the day before and she had missed my cals, she had stayed up till midnight Minnestoa time and called Germany. When a man answered the phone she said in German, Hello I am Kathy Dyess, is Emily Dyesss there? Apparently, the man mumbled something in German and hung up on her.

After this, she was a bit distressed to call again, so when I reached her she told me of this incident and I realized that I had given her one too many one's for my house phone number.
The number was corrected and I stayed up and waited for her to call me after she got off of work.

When she called at 11:40 pm. my time, I was fading fast. The day had been so intense with the cooking, singing, and the party, that I was bushed. So I talked to my mother for awhile, but after bascially falling asleep with her on the phone several times, she said she thought we should call it quits for the night and we did!


5-28-08

Today my alarm clock went off and I swear I had just closed my eyes. I was exhausted the entire day.

The day started off with waking up, breakfast, quick email check, and off to school. Class is always intersting for me, because we do a lot of gramatic work. I must admit, gramatics and writing are my weak points. I feel so dumb when we are doing gramatic exercises, I really need to have someone sit down with me and explain to me the basics in English.

After class, Matthew and I wandered around town in search for cheap food. We everntually ended up back at the AltRathaus in the cafe right next dooe. Matthew bought a huge salami sandwich and I a turkey sandwich both for 2 Euros. Cheap!!!! Not to mention very tasty.

Afterwhich, we went in search of a house that I could take pictures of. For my homework for thursday, I had to find a house, photograph it, and write 200 words about the house and a possible history for it. Which I have and I am so happy it is done now!

I then purchased ice cream and Matthew and I went off to meet our group for our day excursion to Burg Eltz and the small city of Cochem.

The bus ride to Burg Eltz was fairly short and the descent to the valley castle by foot is quite steep. When we arrived at the castle, we took a tour, of course, again all in German. When I went to Burg Eltz last summer, I also took the tour in German, however, our tour guide was very animated and told us so many quarks about Burg Eltz. This time, our tour guide was a mousy little girl, who I felt should not choose this proffesion because she had no stage presence what-so-ever! (ooh, a bit harsh I know, but tour guides make the place)! So needless to say the tour was quite short and one room was completely not talked about because it was under rennovation.

After the tour, we made the heart pounding death climb back up. I swear, it is such a steep climb! I was about ready to fall on the ground and give up! lol. :3

When we reached our bus it was hot and sticky, however, the seat was a welcome relief!

The bus then set off from Cochem. Which is a very touristy little town in Germany, however, it is very beautiful with a picturesque view! The city is on the Mosel river and the buildings are very tall, colorful, and smushed together! Fantastic!

A group of us, instead of trekking into the old part of the city, decided to relax and get something to eat and drink in a local restaraunt. I had onion soup, a glass of peach ice tea, and a banana spilt! Matthew had a glas of sweet red wine, which was cheaper than my ice tea, a schnitzel with salad, and apple strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

We then walked the length of the bridge across the Mosel and took pictures of the city. Then it was back to the bus and home to Mayen!

When we reached Mayen, I walked Matthew home, since its on my way home, and then proceeded to get home, shower, and do homework for 2 hours. During which apparently like half of group like 10 people plus my roommates and I, had a party. Mostly all fo it took place while I was doing homework, but basically, alcoholic berverages were purchased on the way home, and everyone crowded infront of Lauras computer and watched silly videos on you tube. I caught the end part of the videos, which was fun.

I think that things are going a lot better for Matthew and I with the group. I think the family party really helped for bonding us and now I feel that we are accepted and included.

YAY!

So now it is late and I will be going to bed and reading for a while. I hope you all enjoyed this update!

I am very excited for tomorrow, because a bunch of girls here are going to go out for drinks first, get all dressed up and then go see the Sex and the City movie!!!! WOOT!

Please all take care, and I will post pictures of today's excursions soon!

Biss Dann ;)