Christmas and the End of Semester No. 1

Hello again! I realize it has been a long time since my last update. Now I write as a student, who has completed her first semester! Mr. V is now in his case for a short time, after having a lot to do in the past weeks. Yesterday I had my jury for violin and my final Math exam and now I´m enjoying my first day of vacation.
Thanks to the combined efforts of Steffi, Dietmar, Mommy, Daddy and Freya, Max and Henry, I was also able to enjoy an Adventskalender this year, filled with wonderful German candy! :) My roommates also thank you for that special treat!

And thanks to Freya, who brightened up my room with some Christmas decor!

Now there are not many days left, before I fly back to Germany for the break and enjoy a few weeks of vacation. Thank you all for supporting me this semester. It was definitely filled with it´s fair share of hardships and struggles, but I also have made some great friends and I have enjoyed all the things I am learning. I hope not to wait so long again for my next update :)

Cooking!

Today I cooked an entire meal all by myself for the first time! This is rather pathetic but I was exeedingly proud of myself. Freya was nice enough to take me to Aldi's where, to my great delight, we found a Spaetzle mix. Though this way of making Spaetzle is a little different I think I managed it pretty well.

This is the result of my first "cooking" experiment, which basically consisted of me putting water and the mix into a pan and heating it, occasionally stirring and watching that nothing boiled over. I must add that, shockingly, I managed not to break or spill anything and the Spaetzle did taste dilicious!

First Paper

This week I had to submit my very first paper in College. It seemed quite significant to me so I am sharing this picture of my desk with all of you. I now feel like a "real" College student :) (And yes, I do realize there will be many more to come)

Trip to Chicago!

Yesterday marked my first trip to Chicago (besides the Airport). One of the students at my school had seen an advertisement for a free concert the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was playing in Millenium Park. So six of us decided to drive up to Chicago to see it.There was Leah (piano, from Canada), Misun (piano, Korea), Kaori (Japan), Anton (piano, Russia), Jeremy (trombone, US) and me. These are some of the friends I have made at school. Our initial plan to take a train did not work out due to construction, so we had to take a car, which did turn out to be cheaper :)

Since we had a little time before the concert we went on a little shopping spree. I was very tempted to get a scarf, but decided against that since I have been told I own too many. I got a necklace instead! :)

The park was completely full by the time we got there, so at first we were not able to see anything of the orchestra. During the intermission we then walked around a little until we found a wonderful spot to stand, where we could see and hear really well.

So this is where we ended up for the second half of the concert. Riccardo Muti was conducting the orchestra. First they played a Verdi Ouverture, then Les Preludes by Liszt. The second half started off with Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and the concert ended with Respighi's Pines of Rome. Although there were about 25000 people there and it was out in the open it was almost silent in the crowd. I think I had goosebumps the entire time. The solos in the Pines of Rome were incredibly beautiful! They played with such suspense, it was as if the crowd was holding their breath. I am still amazed at the effect music can have when it is played like that! It is always so motivating to hear wonderful performers like that.

After the concert we met up with a couple who know Leah, live in Chicago and had also been at the concert. They showed us a really good Italian restaurant where we all had dinner together before heading back to South Bend.

I had such a wonderful time and I hope to have the chance to go to another concert soon. Although we didn't get back until quite late it was worth every minute of sleep I lost :)

Webcam!

Thank you Steffi and Dietmar!! I now have a webcam, which means I am now able to skype with you guys and actually see and hear you. Very excited about this new gadget, I have already talked to some of my best friends from Germany. It was so much fun to see them again and it made me very be very thankful to be living in this day and age.

Apple Picking

Even though this event took place a while ago, I thought it was worthy of a blog post. Feeling a little guilty the Varner Crew, Erika and I drove to a house which nobody was currently living in to pick apples off the tree in the front yard. Freya had asked permission of the owner beforehand, but we felt a bit strange nonetheless :)


Some of us displayed acrobatic abilities never seen before...

... while others waited patiently.

Even Max and Henry were eager to be of assistance.

Steve was definitely the most bold of all of us! (Some might call it reckless :) )

All the hard work payed off and the reward was several jars of applesauce! There's always something exciting happening at the Varners!

My New Living Quarters

Hello everybody! I am now writing from my new room. I am very glad to have been able to move in before classes start and I think everything is pretty much in place. The two other girls I am living with are very nice and welcoming. Thanks to the Varners I am already stocked up on study-food (a basic necessity for any serious student)! These are just a few pictures of my room and of course my closet. Now I'm really ready for college :)

This little guy is one of two cats who are frequent visitors to my room. His name is Earl. Both cats are very cute.

A Wonderful Treat

Yesterday Freya made a delicious dinnner for us: Linsen and Spätzle! It was great to have a little taste of home again! It was an especially good treat as I had been very busy the past few days preparing for the beginning of classes. Things finally seem to be coming together. Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way and provided me with all the "freshman-essentials" :)

Our Last Stop

We have now reached our final stop along the road. This is a baseball game that the Lingenfelters (all of them!) took us to see in Altoona. This little guys name is Al (Tuna) :)
It was exciting because it has been many years since I had been to a game. Here again everyone was extremely welcoming and again it was so nice to see many friends again.
The rest of our stay in Altoona and Leamersville was very relaxing, as we had little to do. Sunday was the only busy day with three services.
I think we all are glad to be back in Columbus now.
My last home ministries was filled with events I will gladly look back on. Now it is time to get prepared for College. One of the things that impressed me most was how many people invited me to come back to their homes and visit if I ever needed a vacation. Pastor Mark in Leamersville even suggested I come and do a concert in their church! I definitely have much travelling to do!

Boating!

After the initial surprise at seeing some of my friends again we decided to get together and go out for some ice-cream. It was great to reconnect and have a mini OB reunion.

Another tradition was upheld, when we went boating with the Wileys. This was definitely a highlight of our trip. Zach was even brave enough to try the water-skis. Although it took him a while to get up he did finally manage and by the end of the day was able to stay up a considerably long time. We all were very impressed. A great thing about this day was that Anne was able to join us. It was fun to see a fellow "German" and since we hadn't seen her in quite a while we had much to get caught up on. All in all a great day.

Galen was definitely the master skier!

We had great weather so that those of us who remained on deck had a pleasant day as well :)