My Family Came to Visit! - Part II: Germany

Hi everyone,

Here's the rest of the story about my family coming to visit us:

After spending about six days in England, we all hopped a plane to Berlin... and then we got on a train to Löcknitz... and then we finally arrived!  We unpacked a bit and got settled in before going out to get some Döner kebab.

The next day we ate a nice, relaxing, big German-style breakfast at our Bettenhaus that included streamers, since it was Ally's birthday!  We also went to the local cafe to get some cake to celebrate and then we walked down to the lake and saw the 1,000-year-old oak tree.  Our day wrapped up with a climb to the top of the fortress and a great view.

On the third day I gave my family a tour of school I was working at, and they came to my American Culture group to talk a bit about their favorite summertime activities.  I think the kids appreciated getting to listen to Americans who aren't me speaking to them.

We then continued our whirlwind tour by grabbing a train to Warnemünde up by the Baltic Sea.  We had booked another vacation apartment, and we were able to settle in right away and just hang out for the rest of the night.

The next day we grabbed a Fischbrötschen for breakfast and then walked down to the beach to wade in the water.  Then we hopped a train and a bus to get to Karl's, a magical strawberry patch/amusement park/shopping center that also contains the largest collection of teapots in the world.  We ended our day with another walk to watch the sunset from the beach.

On my family's last full day in Germany, we took a train to Berlin and I gave them a quick tour of the city.  We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Potsdamer Platz, Alexanderplatz, and the Berlin Wall Memorial.  We also got some Hessish-style German food.

The next morning we got up early and headed to the airport.  My family flew off, and Jesse and I headed back to Löcknitz for our last two weeks before we, too, headed back to the States.

Until next time,
Amy

My Family Came to Visit! - Part I: England

Hi everyone,

Yes, I realize it's been a while, but I finally have something exciting to tell you about!  My mom, sister, brother, sister's boyfriend, and brother's girlfriend came to visit us from June 6 - 16.  First we hung out in England for a while, then we brought them back to Germany with us to show them around our territory.

On June 6, Jesse and I met the group at the airport in London, and we all slowly made our way to the vacation apartment we had booked.  It took a lot longer than we had anticipated, so after settling in, we only had time to get some fish and chips and hop over to see St. Paul's Cathedral as the sun was setting.

On the second day we really jumped into sightseeing, starting by checking out the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  It turns out they were practicing for the Queen's birthday celebration that day, so we got to see a ceremony that was a little different than usual.  We then walked through St. James's Park up to Trafalger Square and split off to find some food.  Jesse, Mom, and I ate our McDonalds (I know, but it was cheap) on the steps of the National Gallery.  We then met up again and walked down to see the House of Parliament and Big Ben, as well as the London Eye.

Later that night, Jesse and I went to the Phoenix Theater to see Once, a musical we had been dying to see, since it featured music from one of our favorite groups, the Swell Season, and was based on a movie with the same title, which we also adore.  The set was beautiful, the show was sweet and funny, and the actors were amazing.

We spent most of day three at the Tower of London walking around and checking out the exhibits (including the crown jewels!).  We saw a perrier demonstration, took a tour with a Yeoman named George, who told really entertaining stories about the history.  We saw Tower Bridge and a Roman wall near the Tower.  Then, on the way back to the apartment, we noticed that King's Cross Station wasn't that far out of our way, so we decided to visit Platform 9 3/4.

The next day we separated into two groups.  Mom, Sara, and Chris took a day trip to Cardiff to see the Dr. Who Experience, and Jesse, Steve, Ally, and I stayed in London and went to the Great Fire Monument and Shakespeare's Globe.  We were there during a rehearsal for a new play about the Trojan War, and it was amazing to experience some bits of theater while looking down from the stands.  Later that day, we also stopped by Abbey Road Studios and walked across that famous street.

On our final full day in London, Mom, Sara, and Chris stayed in London, while Jesse, Steve, Ally, and I took a bus tour to Bath and Stonehenge.  This was my favorite part of the trip, and I think it was Jesse's favorite, too.  Bath was beautiful, and I wish I could have explored the city more.  We did get to see the Roman Baths and taste the mineral water though.  Before getting back on the bus, we grabbed a quick Cornish pasty, and it was absolutely amazing.

Before going to Stonehenge, we stopped in a little village called Lacock, where we were able to see some old houses and an abbey where they filmed a few of the scenes from Harry Potter.  We weren't able to go inside though, unfortunately.

It is always breathtaking to actually experience structures you have seen in pictures your whole life.  I think a part of me thinks these buildings and sights are not actually real, that they only exist in photos and movies.  Standing among the stones was absolutely unforgettable.

The next morning we caught the train to the airport and headed off to Germany... and that is where the second half of this post will begin!

Stay tuned.

- Amy

My Dad Came to Visit!

Hi everyone!

I finally have something to write about, and something wonderful.  My dad was able to come visit from March 27 through April 5, and we had a great time.

Jesse and I were already in Berlin on the 27th, since it was the end of the Fulbright Berlin Conference, so we were able to pick Dad up from the airport when he got in.  (If you want to read more about the conference, you can do so at my teaching blog here: http://teachingloecknitz.blogspot.de.)  After we picked Dad up from Berlin Tegel, we took a bus to the Hauptbahnhof, ate some Pizza Hut, and then began the 1 1/2-hour trip back to Löcknitz.

When we got there, Dad unloaded some presents he had brought for us, including several packages of Peeps and some homemade bread from my grandma!  We also called grandma and grandpa quick on Google Voice to let them know Dad made it safely.  Then we all crashed for the night.

Grandma bread!

The next day I took Jesse and Dad to school with me to the American Culture group I started a couple weeks ago.  I had advertised that my dad was coming, and twice as many students ended up coming, so we had a full house!  I had prepared a slide show about the different regions in the United States, an overview of the climate, nature, industry, and, of course, the food, and I made a few extra slides about Nebraska and Wisconsin.  When I got to these slides, I had Jesse talk about Nebraska a bit and Dad talked about Wisconsin.  I think they both had a fun time, and it was great for my students to get to talk to real Americans (other than me!) and be able to ask them questions.  One student even asked my dad if he was a teacher, because he has a loud, clear voice.

The rest of the day we just walked around Löcknitz and hung out.

The next day was Saturday, and we decided to take a day trip across the border to Stettin, Poland.  In Stettin there are red dashes on the sidewalk that you can follow and they will take you to all the historical sites, so that is what we did.  We walked along the trail and saw, among other sites, the Pomeranian Dukes' Castle and the house where Catherine the Great was born.

Sunday was a lazy day.  We spent most of the time hanging out at our place.  I also tutored a girl I had met with a few times before for an hour or so.  Late in the afternoon, we got out and took a walk up to the fortress and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.  We also stopped by Cafe Traum and had some of their absolutely amazing cake.

On Monday, March 31, I took Jesse and Dad to school with me again.  This time the principal of the school gave us all a tour.  Dad said it was nice to see where I worked, since you don't really get a sense of what it is like just by talking about it.  The tour ended in the music room, where Dad serenaded us on the piano.

We then took a quick walk to the lake before going back to the fortress and took the narrow, winding staircase to the top, where we had a great view of Löcknitz and the surrounding countryside.

That evening, our friend Eva picked us up and took her to her grandparents' house for an authentic German meal.  We ate Kohlrouladen (cabbage rolls) and Salzkartoffeln (salty potatoes) with homemade chocolate pudding for dessert.  It was wonderful, and we even got to talk to her grandparents a bit about what life was like living in East Germany.  They spoke openly with us over a couple glasses of beer and some chocolates to top it all off, and we left feeling happy and full.

On Tuesday I went to school for a little bit to meet with my group of 7th graders.  When the bell rang, indicating the end of my 20 minutes with these students, I hurried out the door and ran down the street to meet Jesse and Dad at the train station.  I made it just in time for us to catch the 1:23 train to Berlin.

When we got there, we made our way to our hotel, checked in, and then ran out right away to do some sightseeing.  I gave Dad a brief walking tour of Berlin, from Alexanderplatz to Unter den Linden and the Brandenburger Tor to Friedrichstrasse, where we stopped to get a bite to eat at the Tex-Mex Cantina.  We then hopped a train to Potsdamer Platz.  I had just finished telling Dad the story of when Jesse came to visit me during my months abroad in Berlin and we randomly walked into a movie premiere at Potsdamer Platz and, lo and behold, Jesse, Dad, and I found ourselves right in the middle of the Germany premiere of Divergent.  What a day.

On Wednesday after a nice brunch at the Sixties Diner, we went to the Berlin Wall Memorial by Bernauer Strasse, since Dad was interested in seeing the wall and learning more about the history.  I hadn't been to this memorial since I studied in Berlin, and I had forgotten how much I liked it.  The memorial shows the space that was No Man's Land and there is a memorial church, the Chapel of Reconciliation, which is lovely.  We also went over to the Holocaust Memorial and then to Checkpoint Charlie.  On the way to Checkpoint Charlie I spied the chocolate store Fassbender & Rausch, which I had heard of and had been wanting to visit.  We walked around drooling over the chocolate models of Berlin monuments (at least I was drooling) and I ended up buying a small tin filled with chocolates.

Our day took a turn when we got back to our hotel and discovered that Dad's flight home had been cancelled due to pilot strikes at Lufthansa.  After several phone calls and a trip to Saturn to buy more cell phone minutes, Dad finally got a new flight arranged for two days later, on Saturday.  We also had to book a new hotel, since I couldn't get the same deal for two more nights that I had gotten for the first two nights!

So Thursday was the day we switched hotels.  We then took a walk down to the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechniskirche, which was devastated during the war and has since been turned into a nice memorial, and we went to KaDeWe, or Kaufhaus des Westens, a high-end, multi-level department store.  Jesse nearly fell to his knees with joy when we spied the American section, which included a whole shelf of taco seasonings, and I considered buying a 10 Euro box of Poptarts, but managed to restrain myself.  We did end up buying one package of taco seasoning and a box of microwave popcorn, and I can now say I have bought something at KaDeWe.

 That night Jesse and I saw the new Captain America movie at Potsdamer Platz, and after the movie we decided to walk home, a three mile-or-so trek.  Meanwhile, Dad grabbed some Subway for dinner and a Flurry at McDonalds for dessert  and relaxed a bit in the hotel room.

On our final full day in Berlin, we walked down to the Zoologischer Garten station and bought some Bratwuerste for brunch.  We then bought a day ticket and spent some time travelling around Berlin and looking at the places I lived when I spent my time abroad.  We first went and saw the apartment I lived in with my host family, and then we saw the student housing I eventually moved into.  Across the street from this apartment is an outlet store that sells candy, chocolate, chips, etc., where Dad was able to buy some tasty souvenirs for grandma and grandpa.

When we went to Checkpoint Charlie a few days before, Dad had spied a Domino's Pizza.  I had no idea that Domino's existed in Germany, but it meant that we needed to order Domino's for dinner at least once.  On our last night in Berlin, we ordered a couple pizzas and hung out in our hotel room.

The next day, April 5, Dad flew out from Berlin Tegel to catch a connecting flight in Munich before finally landing in Chicago... and getting in his car and driving up to De Pere.  It was a long day of travel for him, but he made it safely.

As you can probably tell, I have so many awesome memories from this trip, and I am so grateful that my dad was able to come visit me and take a glimpse at my life in Löcknitz.  Thank you, Dad!  Hopefully you had as amazing of a time as I did!

Until next time,
Amy