Feuerwehr

24. August

Yesterday morning we were scheduled to spend three hours with the Feuerwehr (fire department). I suppose we imagined we would just be getting a long tour of their building, but boy were we in for a surprise! The 25 of us who went rode in several fire trucks to a nearby town where we met some more firemen. They had four stations set up for us, and my experience was as follows:

Station 1: Spray the hoses into a target and fill up the hole in the target. They timed us, and we were a lot slower than their usual times. Evidently this is an exercise they do because they were talking about their own best times.

Station 2: Learn about all the tools, hoses, nozzles, etc that are carried in a typical German firetruck.

Station 3: The fireman in the light blue sweatshirt in the picture below showed us how to use these tools, which are so heavy. They can cut into vehicles in a car accident, for example. They could also cut off your fingers. Or your arm.

Station 4: We went up about 30 meters in a crane. Below is a view of our friends down on the ground. Emily was laughing so hard because she was enjoying it so much that the fireman with us took us all the way up, the highest we could go. We could see quite a long ways off!

We didn't realize that our first station was actually a race, and that the winning group (not us!) got to spray everyone else with a water cannon. Everyone got so wet. When a friend of mine turned to run away, he didn't see me behind him and WHAM, our heads slammed together. I have a rattled brain and a nice swollen eye to prove it... It's a good thing to laugh about though. I feel a bit better today.

Bis später,

Abigail

Hedersleben, Quedlinburg, Host Family

21. August

After 10 days in Hedersleben, the Kloster and the town feel like home. We eat three meals a day in the main hall downstairs (I eat mainly potatoes, bread, and cheese), in between which we go to class, do homework, and have free time to explore the village. Hedersleben is a peaceful and quiet town that is very welcoming to us, even if sometimes we are as loud as “typical Americans.” I’ve met some locals, including a farmer who showed me around his farm and introduced me to his dogs, ponies, chickens, and baby rabbits.

Last week, we took two field trips. The first was to Quedlinburg, a town of about 20,000 people not far from Hedersleben. Quedlinburg has many old churches and a castle up on a hill. The city has been very well kept and hundreds of half-timbered houses still line the streets. The beauty of the town has been particularly well-kept because the city was almost entirely untouched by World War II.

Drawing of Quedlinburg from up on the hill by the castle. There are many, many old churches!

Another attempt at capturing how all the roofs looked from above.

One tower of the castle.

We took another day-trip to Leipzig. I walked about 7 kilometers and got a good view of the city on a nice sunny day.

Big news: I got my host family! I will be living in the middle of Duisburg, a city of about 490,000 in the state Nordrhein-Westfallen, which is in western Germany and about 70 kilometers north of Cologne on the Rhein River. I will live with host parents, a younger host sister, and a host brother who is my age but will be beginning University this fall. I will move to Duisburg on September 6^th!

Farewell, Oklahoma

9. August 2014

Goodbye, home

One thing I will not miss about summers here in Oklahoma: the mosquitos. I went for a walk last evening to spend a little time with our animals one last time before I left, and was eventually driven back inside by about six mosquito bites. Despite the heat, the turkeys, goats, chickens, cats, and dog all seemed in high spirits.

Summer

I don't think I could've asked for a much better summer. I saw some beautiful scenery, in the Pacific Northwest as well as in Oklahoma and Florida. I've had memorable adventures with the people I love. It's been the perfect sort of transition. I've had time to appreciate what I've accomplished, but I don't really mean that in the sense you might think. Rather, I find myself in a really good mindset, which I have been able to enjoy with friends and family. I feel good about what I've done and what I'm going to do. Perhaps most importantly, I've been able to enjoy the most important moment: the present.

Now, though, I'm ready to be off! It's time to start the journey! I am writing this from my layover in the Dallas airport, on my way to Washington, D.C. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Frankfurt and drive to the language camp. From what I can tell, I'll have minimal internet access while I'm there.

Want to stay updated of my travels? You can receive email updates whenever I share a new blog post. Enter your email address in the box on the righthand side of the page.

Liebe Grüsse,

Abigail