I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!!!
It's so strange not being at home, but Peter and his family have been absolutely amazing!!!!
We all woke up at 6:30 and went down to open presents from Santa, then afterwards some of us (aka: everyone over the age of 15) went back to bed for a few hours, while the younger ones stayed up playing with their new gadgets. We went to 12:30 Mass at the Cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful, and then came back to get ready for Christmas Dinner. Christmas Dinner in Ireland is basically what we have for Thanksgiving, including cranberry sauce =D It was DELICIOUS!!!!! Dinner was around four, and afterwards we went over to Seona's brother's house to see their grandma and aunts and uncles and cousins. Everyone was so sweet. Seona's brother and his wife gave me cute little Santa ornament and Peter and Seona gave me a bracelet. =) I've been so blessed to have such wonderful people to spend Christmas with. =D Anyways, we just got home, and it's almost 1am, so I'm going to get to bed, but I thought I'd update, mostly because I haven't in a while.
Things in Ireland are "grand" as they say, and I love it here. Peter and his family have been so wonderful to me, I really couldn't imagine nicer people with whom I could spend my "away from home" Christmas.
((Not that I'll be doing this again next year... I really miss everyone in Chicago, and definitely plan to be home for next year's Christmas festivities!!!))
Funny story: This evening after dinner we went to Seona's brother's place, up the road. After playing pool with the girls, we all sat down and talked and watched Catherine Tate's "Nan's Christmas Carol." At one point, James, Seona's nephew, got up and brought people coffee or tea, depending on what they wanted. When he asked me what I would like in my coffee, I replied "Bailey's, please" which seemed to surprise everyone in the room. Alice, Peter and Seona's the oldest girl, was so entertained by the thought of putting Bailey's in coffee that she kept bringing it up, every few minutes or so. =)
((Upon retrospection, I really hope I didn't offend anyone with that request...I'll have to ask tomorrow...I'll let you know the verdict!))
Ok, it's past my bedtime...
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!"
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Ireland!!!
Don't really have time for a long post, but Ireland is gorgeous. Let's just say, I'm in love. =)
Haven't met any cute boys yet, but I still have time, haha!!
Love!
~e
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Internationals Christmas Party
So, technically it was just a dinner, but it was just for the Internationals, which was really nice! They had delicious food and good music!
Pictures from the Party:
Anyways, how about an update??
After I returned from Poland, on December 2nd, I had a day to unpack and re-pack because that weekend I went to München (again!) with our Gemini group. There were about forty-some-odd people in our group. Packed onto a huge bus. It was a LOT of fun.
We went to München on Friday, got there around 7:30pm. Our hostel was called Wombat and it was HILARIOUS. It had signs like "No Trespassing. Violators will be shot, Survivors will be shot again." =D It was awesome. After we checked in, we dropped our stuff off in our rooms and went out to the Weinachtsmarkt*. (Weinachtsmarkt = Christmas Market) We walked around for an hour and then realized that it was COLD and so went back to the hostel. A few of us didn't really want to turn in just yet, and we had made it back in time for the happy hour in the "Wombar" (the bar in the Wombat) so we had a drink (1€ for a .5L of bier, not bad at all!) and then went to bed.
Saturday, we had most of the morning to ourselves so Younghoe and I went on a quest for Starbucks. =) I know, how cliché. But I really do miss having "normal" sized coffees... After that, we met up with the group and went through the smaller, cuter Weinachtsmarkt in Marionplatz (the main square of Munich) towards the Deutsches Museum. That was really cool because it was the Technical Museum and so we got to see cars and planes and all sorts of awesome things. For example, the had one exhibit on glass, and part of it was on "bullet proof" glass. It said that this glass was so strong that you could stand on it and it wouldn't break. It even showed you how much it would bend and STILL not break. It was highly impressive. However, I was walking around by myself, so I don't have any pictures, I'm sorry!!! (You'll just have to go and see for yourself ;) )
After the Deutsches Museum, we went on a tour of Munich that ended at the Hofbrauhaus, which is probably one of the most famous breweries in ... the world. =D We had a reservation there, and so had delicious dinner and bier. =D
After that, people wanted to go out, but I wasn't really up for it. Half of us went out to a club nearby, and the other half (myself included) stayed in the "Wombar." It was a LOT of fun. I got to know so many people on this trip. =)
On Sunday, we woke up and got back on the Bus to head home, however first we stopped in Neuschwanstein. =D Unfortunately, it was kind of a long ride (maybe two hours?) and a few people had partied a liiiiiitle too hard the night before. (Not me!!) Luckily, all potential disasters were avoided and we all made it to the castle safely. =D
The castle itself is actually only about 1/3 completed. We were able to go on a tour of the place and it is absolutely beautiful. No pictures were allowed inside the castle, because pretty much everything is still in it's original condition. It was amazing. I could totally live there, I decided, but I would have a problem cleaning it... (high ceilings and stuff...) ;-) After the tour of the castle completed, we got back on the bus and headed back to Pforzheim. We actually got back in town about an hour earlier than anticipated, which is really impressive considering the bus left Neuschwanstein about an hour later than it was "supposed" to... Or maybe they planned it like that... =)
This week I've had class. Nothing tooo exciting, but I have had things postponed and reduced which means that my workload for next week now only consists of two presentations. Talk about easy! =D
So, Next week's schedule looks something like this:
Monday: Class at 9:45, meeting at 11:30
Tuesday: Class from 8 to 5 (ew) Presentation 1 at 8am (ew)
Wednesday: Class from 11:30 to 5 - Presentation 2 at 1:45pm.
Thursday: GO TO IRELAND. (Happy Birthday, Robert!!)
Yep. It's already almost Christmas Break. That's amazing. Time here really seems to have just flown past me. And yeah, "Time flies when you're having fun." I know.
I'm told I'll have internet in Ireland, so as long as there are no problems with the electricity situation (darned plugs and voltages being all different EVERYWHERE YOU GO.... Sooo frustrating...) there will be pictures and updates. =) I return to Pforzheim on January 7th, and classes resume on the 11th.
Anyways. It's pretty late, so I'm going to get to bed. I hope you enjoy the updates and pictures!!! I'm sorry it's been so quiet lately! =)
Hugs and love and have safe holidays!!
~Deine AmerikanErin
* - Half of us went to the Weinachtsmarkt and the other half went to the Bayern-Munich game. I was originally supposed to go to the game, but due to an oversight (they forgot that they would need official reps from Gemini (the organizing group) in the group going to the game) I wasn't allowed to go. I did, however, get my money back, so it wasn't a huge deal.
Pictures from the Party:
Anyways, how about an update??
After I returned from Poland, on December 2nd, I had a day to unpack and re-pack because that weekend I went to München (again!) with our Gemini group. There were about forty-some-odd people in our group. Packed onto a huge bus. It was a LOT of fun.
We went to München on Friday, got there around 7:30pm. Our hostel was called Wombat and it was HILARIOUS. It had signs like "No Trespassing. Violators will be shot, Survivors will be shot again." =D It was awesome. After we checked in, we dropped our stuff off in our rooms and went out to the Weinachtsmarkt*. (Weinachtsmarkt = Christmas Market) We walked around for an hour and then realized that it was COLD and so went back to the hostel. A few of us didn't really want to turn in just yet, and we had made it back in time for the happy hour in the "Wombar" (the bar in the Wombat) so we had a drink (1€ for a .5L of bier, not bad at all!) and then went to bed.
Saturday, we had most of the morning to ourselves so Younghoe and I went on a quest for Starbucks. =) I know, how cliché. But I really do miss having "normal" sized coffees... After that, we met up with the group and went through the smaller, cuter Weinachtsmarkt in Marionplatz (the main square of Munich) towards the Deutsches Museum. That was really cool because it was the Technical Museum and so we got to see cars and planes and all sorts of awesome things. For example, the had one exhibit on glass, and part of it was on "bullet proof" glass. It said that this glass was so strong that you could stand on it and it wouldn't break. It even showed you how much it would bend and STILL not break. It was highly impressive. However, I was walking around by myself, so I don't have any pictures, I'm sorry!!! (You'll just have to go and see for yourself ;) )
After the Deutsches Museum, we went on a tour of Munich that ended at the Hofbrauhaus, which is probably one of the most famous breweries in ... the world. =D We had a reservation there, and so had delicious dinner and bier. =D
After that, people wanted to go out, but I wasn't really up for it. Half of us went out to a club nearby, and the other half (myself included) stayed in the "Wombar." It was a LOT of fun. I got to know so many people on this trip. =)
On Sunday, we woke up and got back on the Bus to head home, however first we stopped in Neuschwanstein. =D Unfortunately, it was kind of a long ride (maybe two hours?) and a few people had partied a liiiiiitle too hard the night before. (Not me!!) Luckily, all potential disasters were avoided and we all made it to the castle safely. =D
The castle itself is actually only about 1/3 completed. We were able to go on a tour of the place and it is absolutely beautiful. No pictures were allowed inside the castle, because pretty much everything is still in it's original condition. It was amazing. I could totally live there, I decided, but I would have a problem cleaning it... (high ceilings and stuff...) ;-) After the tour of the castle completed, we got back on the bus and headed back to Pforzheim. We actually got back in town about an hour earlier than anticipated, which is really impressive considering the bus left Neuschwanstein about an hour later than it was "supposed" to... Or maybe they planned it like that... =)
This week I've had class. Nothing tooo exciting, but I have had things postponed and reduced which means that my workload for next week now only consists of two presentations. Talk about easy! =D
So, Next week's schedule looks something like this:
Monday: Class at 9:45, meeting at 11:30
Tuesday: Class from 8 to 5 (ew) Presentation 1 at 8am (ew)
Wednesday: Class from 11:30 to 5 - Presentation 2 at 1:45pm.
Thursday: GO TO IRELAND. (Happy Birthday, Robert!!)
Yep. It's already almost Christmas Break. That's amazing. Time here really seems to have just flown past me. And yeah, "Time flies when you're having fun." I know.
I'm told I'll have internet in Ireland, so as long as there are no problems with the electricity situation (darned plugs and voltages being all different EVERYWHERE YOU GO.... Sooo frustrating...) there will be pictures and updates. =) I return to Pforzheim on January 7th, and classes resume on the 11th.
Anyways. It's pretty late, so I'm going to get to bed. I hope you enjoy the updates and pictures!!! I'm sorry it's been so quiet lately! =)
Hugs and love and have safe holidays!!
~Deine AmerikanErin
* - Half of us went to the Weinachtsmarkt and the other half went to the Bayern-Munich game. I was originally supposed to go to the game, but due to an oversight (they forgot that they would need official reps from Gemini (the organizing group) in the group going to the game) I wasn't allowed to go. I did, however, get my money back, so it wasn't a huge deal.
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