hey look, a blog!

Hello, loved ones!

So, a blog seemed like a good idea :) This way I can share all of my delightful happenings at once (instead of many times to many people) and we can stay in touch while I'm in Deutschland!

I left Boise on Tuesday, and the day was... stressful. After putting off packing until the night before, and then realizing that I didn't have big enough suitcases (even after going to purchase a carry on at Kohl's), and then being late to the airport, and then having a brief (although intensely stressful) setback at the airport and giving a three second goodbye to eight loved ones, and after three flights plus three trains, I arrived in Oldenburg!! I was pretty stressed out and un-optimistic when I arrived in Frankfurt, but the moment I met the family all of my anxieties were eased and I knew everything was going to be okay.

My room is small, but lovely. I have more junk than they have comfortable closet space, but I made it work :) When I arrived, there were a few special items from the family: first, a picture of the four of them (Frank, Esther, Sara und Simon) over my desk, a HUGE sunflower, fancy chocolate (!), and a heart-shaped balloon. The picture is beautiful and is just so loving and thoughtful. Each of them is holding a sign with one word, reading "Herzlich Willkommen liebe Julia!" which, in essence, says "A heart-felt welcome, dear Julia." I will treasure this picture truly for the rest of my life.



Even though I have been gone for more than three days (I think), tonight is only my second night here, so I have mainly experienced meals. Breakfast (frühstück) and dinner (Abendessen) are very similiar, consisting mainly of bread (brot), cheese (käse), and meats (fleish) such as salami, chicken, and turkey. I have never been a very adventurous eater, so the cheese is a stretch. Cheddar is NOT standard cheese here- instead, they have brie and two kinds of gouda... plus another one I don't remember. I've had brie before, but never much cared for it. As it turns out, it is the cheese that I am most able to currently tolerate. I guess if I'm going to do a lot of growing while I'm here, it may as well be in my culinary horizens, as well. Today for lunch (Mittagessen), Esther and Simon made pizza- sounds basic, right? Well this pizza had a layer of ground beef (covered in pesto?) on top of the sauce, followed by cut of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower! Then they sprinkled some shredded (gouda) cheese on top. Wow. In Germany (and perhaps Europe?), the lunch is the more formal, hot meal while dinner is a casual round of bread, cheese, and meat. It's kind of nice to have a relaxed evening meal. Oh, and to drink we had apple (apfel) tea which the kids also drank and was delicious! Fun!

I did have had two little bumps thus far. Last night, I went to plug in my iHome which caused the power in the top two floors to go out. Thankfully Simon started crying around 6 (not that I heard him, even though he's across the hall) so Frank awoke to him, realized the power was off, and was able to set Esther's cell phone to wake him up. He went to Hamburg this morning for work and will be there through Sunday... so it was kind of important to get up :) Apparently my stupid iHome has 1400mA, which my dad explained and I still don't really get. Moral of the story: too much to handle. BUMMER.

Second bump: I haven't ridden a bike in a decade. This has mainly been a result of an embarrassing childhood experience, which led to my general lack of interest in bicycles (as opposed to a phobia curable only via extensive therapy). I knew I was going to ride a bike here, so that wasn't the problem. When Esther said the kids were going to a friend's to play, I said I would come with. Herein lies the problem- the seat on the bicycle is too high. And no, I don't mean it needs to be adjusted down and then I'll be good to go. Frank's bicycle had a bar too high for me to reach my leg over, but their spare bike requires one to peddle while standing up before being high enough to seat yourself. So you have to be able to stablize yourself before sitting. Um, yeah... that didn't work out. I'm not sure how this will be resolved, but it will have to be one way or another... so pray that I am able to conquer my now growing fear of bicycling.



Other than that, so far so good. I feel like my German is awful, but Frank and Esther (and two neighbors I met) insist that I am doing well and that I just need to give myself time. Even today was fine, but there are just so many words I don't know, including ever-useful prepositions.

In terms of prayer requests, I have three:
-Please pray that I will pick up the language quickly so that I won't have to pay for language courses. They have made an appointment for me on August 17th where I will take some sort of test to determine my abilities and which course I should enroll in. By that time, I will be able to tell if a course (of any kind or level) will be necessary... and it would be great if it isn't!!
-That everything with my Visa will work out! Next month I will have an interview with someone to see how my German is (they require I have at least a basic understanding of the language, which I do). I'm not at all worried about this interview, since I know a suitable amount of German. However, it is an important step in the Visa process... so pray that EVERY step goes well!
-For my time here in general, so that I can make the most of this God-given time and really enjoy this wonderful family and this country!

Liebe Grüße,
~Julia~