Hey, so its going good. Im here hanging out in Germany still....but only one more week till Im home in my own bed! (woo-hoo!).
So X-mas was good. Kinda different. We opened gifts on X-mas eve in stead of X-mas day, and then we did a few other different things, but all in all it was really neat. X-mas eve we went to the Childrens Pagent at the neighboorhood church and then we came home, but went next door for coffee and cake at Peppi and Kalle´s. Then we went back over to Tante Maria and Onkel Georgs for dinner, which was the long German hot dogs and some special white worsts from Munich, and then we also had katuffle salat (potato salad...lol...ha ha, for all of you who think I spell horrible in English, check out that Deutch....its worse!). Then (smile) after we opened some gifts in the stubbor (living room) we went back next door! lol...crazy, huh? And then we had more gifts and drinks. Then back to my aunt and uncles house to meet other people who came. We had a suprise visit from Dagmar, Jurgen and Anna from Berlin, so that was a nice suprise (I guess they decided at 5pm they were going to come and then got in the car and arrived 3.5 hours later).
The next day we took a walk along the dyke with Dagmar and Jurgen and it was so freezing. Even though there was no snow on the ground, the wind of the water was increadibly icey.
Anyway, since then there has been a lot of eating here and there and the other place, and then there is coffee and cakes here and there and the other place...but its all great.
Yesterday I got to tour the one of the fish factories. That was really cool, never in my life have I seen so many different kinds of fish...different colors, different sizes, in different states (live crabs and crawdads to packaged bits and pieces). It was really great.
On a random note, my aunt has tea thats called "Heisse Liebe", which means "hott love"...how funny is that? Since she justs keeps talking to me in Germans (shes always done this), I decided a while ago that I was just going to talk to her in English...and sometimes, like them, I mix the two together...lol...my aunts thing to say is "Kliene peeoples" which means small peoples (but they dont say "people" here and it always sounds hilarious). My uncles thing, among many, is the "car-bahn"...similar to the "auto-bahn", but American-ized...lol. He has also taught me "Drinks of Korn comes in form"....yeah, lol...I dont know exactly what that one means, but when we were around the table last night and I quoted him, everyone started cracking up...it was great.
Well, thats really all I have to say right now (smile) there are a bunch of other things that I want to make note of, but I can never think of them when Im in front of the computer. I love you all!
<><,
maike rinaye
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
A German Christmas
Hello from Germany, for all those of you who are still reading my blog, or perhaps, now that you have nothing to do, you are catching up on all of it. Whatever the case is...I assume that you are reading it because you are interested in what I am up to (smile). I want to start this blog out with saying that I have little control over the spelling errors here (shrug), since were in Germany I have no idea how to work the Microsoft word, and even if I did, it would correct it in German and so it would be no use for me. So my appoligies before hand. Also...since the keyboard is all different, I wanted to make it clear that I have no idea where some of the symbols are (like the apostrophe), therefor I can not use them...so sorry for that too.
Now, to start off. Although increadibly stressful, the last week has turned out okay after all. Mom arrived in London on Tuesday the 14th, the same day that Whitney left London (we hung out all together for an hour I think between the two flights). Mom and I had a really nice evening, and then we had to change accomidations for the next night and that was really stressful. Mom brought heavy gifts which would be perfectly fine if we were not going to do little travels with it and stay in hostels and stuff like that...but since that was our plans... (shrug) it ended up being somewhat of a nightmare. The big bag weighed like, 60lbs and we had to carry it up stairs and then down stairs (like 4 flights of stairs!), and...yeah (sigh) it was aweful. So when we got to Dusseldorf, Germany and I was still sick (with a cough), we decided that going to Munich was not a good idea and ended up simply getting on the train to my Tante Maria and Onkel Georges two days early. But it was much better this way.
The night we got here it snowed huge snowflakes and made everything absolutely beautiful. There are not as many lights on the houses here. A few people here and there have decorated a bit with the electric candles in the windows or what have you, but for the most part there isnt a lot of decorating going on. The Christmas trees inside my Aunt and Uncles house does not go up until the day before X-mas, from what I understand. So we will get to help put it up and decorate it (smile), I havent done that for a few years, it will be nice.
Anyway, we have done a little bit of shopping and went to a choir concert at the church and we have had tea and coffee everyday in the afternoon. It is great. Tonight we will go to my other Aunt and Uncles house for a Birthday dinner. Tomorow I have plans of going with a few friends here, Sandra and Melanie, to a disco to dance it up. Hopefully I will be feeling good.
Oh, another thing I wanted to mention. I can now say that I have drank before 12. I was shocked too, but the neighbor came over (MaryAnne) and came into our room, where I was still attempting to fix my hair after my shower, and said to me "Maike, mercter ein snapps? Liquour?", and I was like "now?", and my mother from the kitchen yelled, "yeah, they want to drink it now" I laughed and said, "okay, why not". That was at like, 10:45 or 11ish. Lol.
Anyway (smile), I am having a good time here. A little bored at times, but really keeping myself occupied most of the time. I hope that you are all having a great holiday and have a really blessed Christmas. If you have time to write me a note that would be wonderful, if not thats okay too (grin).
LOVE<><,
maike rinaye
ps: what is up with the Drury e-mail? Does anyone know? I have been trying to get into it for the last few day with no success. Is it my computer or are they working on it? Oh well...figures, right?
Now, to start off. Although increadibly stressful, the last week has turned out okay after all. Mom arrived in London on Tuesday the 14th, the same day that Whitney left London (we hung out all together for an hour I think between the two flights). Mom and I had a really nice evening, and then we had to change accomidations for the next night and that was really stressful. Mom brought heavy gifts which would be perfectly fine if we were not going to do little travels with it and stay in hostels and stuff like that...but since that was our plans... (shrug) it ended up being somewhat of a nightmare. The big bag weighed like, 60lbs and we had to carry it up stairs and then down stairs (like 4 flights of stairs!), and...yeah (sigh) it was aweful. So when we got to Dusseldorf, Germany and I was still sick (with a cough), we decided that going to Munich was not a good idea and ended up simply getting on the train to my Tante Maria and Onkel Georges two days early. But it was much better this way.
The night we got here it snowed huge snowflakes and made everything absolutely beautiful. There are not as many lights on the houses here. A few people here and there have decorated a bit with the electric candles in the windows or what have you, but for the most part there isnt a lot of decorating going on. The Christmas trees inside my Aunt and Uncles house does not go up until the day before X-mas, from what I understand. So we will get to help put it up and decorate it (smile), I havent done that for a few years, it will be nice.
Anyway, we have done a little bit of shopping and went to a choir concert at the church and we have had tea and coffee everyday in the afternoon. It is great. Tonight we will go to my other Aunt and Uncles house for a Birthday dinner. Tomorow I have plans of going with a few friends here, Sandra and Melanie, to a disco to dance it up. Hopefully I will be feeling good.
Oh, another thing I wanted to mention. I can now say that I have drank before 12. I was shocked too, but the neighbor came over (MaryAnne) and came into our room, where I was still attempting to fix my hair after my shower, and said to me "Maike, mercter ein snapps? Liquour?", and I was like "now?", and my mother from the kitchen yelled, "yeah, they want to drink it now" I laughed and said, "okay, why not". That was at like, 10:45 or 11ish. Lol.
Anyway (smile), I am having a good time here. A little bored at times, but really keeping myself occupied most of the time. I hope that you are all having a great holiday and have a really blessed Christmas. If you have time to write me a note that would be wonderful, if not thats okay too (grin).
LOVE<><,
maike rinaye
ps: what is up with the Drury e-mail? Does anyone know? I have been trying to get into it for the last few day with no success. Is it my computer or are they working on it? Oh well...figures, right?
Friday, December 10, 2004
Regent College Overview
As a final piece from Regents College in London I simply want to express some of the Regent’s life benefits and drawbacks.
Benefits:
*you’re in freakin’ London!
*the cheapest flights all go through London, so you can go almost anywhere.
*it’s a great cultural experience.
*you can plan your schedule so that you only have class 3 days a week.
*you can take classes that require field trips all over London.
*you can take a class AT the National Art Gallery.
*William [aka: “GlitterBoy”] works at the desk in the lobby and is GREAT!
*school-wise there isn’t that much work.
*school food, although you’re tired of it by the end of the semester, isn’t really all that bad.
*London is huge and has so much going on in the city.
*theatre life here is great! [we could absolutely go see a different show every night for a month and still not see them all].
*unless there was a huge party in the pub the previous night, the bathrooms are usually cleanJ.
*Regent’s is engulfed by the Queens gardens and the lovely park.
*you get to meet and befriend a lot of other people from the states.
*there are students from both the US and the rest of the world.
Drawbacks:
*everything is expensive [very important part you should know before planning a trip here].
*at Regents, your bedroom walls are yellow.
*your bedroom carpet is green and about as thick as a thin piece of cardboard.
*stupid people get drunk all the time and then don’t always make it to the restroom to vomit [gross me out!].
*school-wise, the teachers, even though they are teaching at the “British AMERICAN College of London,” will grade and test very different from teachers in the USA.
*RBS students think you are not as important or smart as they are [Regents Business School]…jerks.
*you’re 200 million billion miles away from everything that you know [ie: USA].
*with some effort, folks can get their hands on numerous different things to smoke.
*there are students from both the US and the rich rest of the world.
And that’s all I have to say for right now [smile]. I’m sick. If you guys could pray for me that would be wonderful. We’re going to be moving our stuff from Regents to the hotel on Sunday and then Mom will be here on Tuesday and we’re off to Germany on Thursday. The computer lab is closing so I should go.
LOVE<><,
*maike rinaye*
Benefits:
*you’re in freakin’ London!
*the cheapest flights all go through London, so you can go almost anywhere.
*it’s a great cultural experience.
*you can plan your schedule so that you only have class 3 days a week.
*you can take classes that require field trips all over London.
*you can take a class AT the National Art Gallery.
*William [aka: “GlitterBoy”] works at the desk in the lobby and is GREAT!
*school-wise there isn’t that much work.
*school food, although you’re tired of it by the end of the semester, isn’t really all that bad.
*London is huge and has so much going on in the city.
*theatre life here is great! [we could absolutely go see a different show every night for a month and still not see them all].
*unless there was a huge party in the pub the previous night, the bathrooms are usually cleanJ.
*Regent’s is engulfed by the Queens gardens and the lovely park.
*you get to meet and befriend a lot of other people from the states.
*there are students from both the US and the rest of the world.
Drawbacks:
*everything is expensive [very important part you should know before planning a trip here].
*at Regents, your bedroom walls are yellow.
*your bedroom carpet is green and about as thick as a thin piece of cardboard.
*stupid people get drunk all the time and then don’t always make it to the restroom to vomit [gross me out!].
*school-wise, the teachers, even though they are teaching at the “British AMERICAN College of London,” will grade and test very different from teachers in the USA.
*RBS students think you are not as important or smart as they are [Regents Business School]…jerks.
*you’re 200 million billion miles away from everything that you know [ie: USA].
*with some effort, folks can get their hands on numerous different things to smoke.
*there are students from both the US and the rich rest of the world.
And that’s all I have to say for right now [smile]. I’m sick. If you guys could pray for me that would be wonderful. We’re going to be moving our stuff from Regents to the hotel on Sunday and then Mom will be here on Tuesday and we’re off to Germany on Thursday. The computer lab is closing so I should go.
LOVE<><,
*maike rinaye*
Monday, December 06, 2004
Barcelona!
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Barcelona! Yeah for Spain and TWO new pairs of shoes!!! Woo Hoo! So Barcelona was the best way to end the semester. I was a bit worried about going the weekend before finals, but there was nothing to worry about [smile].
I should add in here, however, that Rika and Whit got to see the Queen on Wednesday [I was making a presentation on the set design of Simply Heavenly at that time]. And then that afternoon Rika and I went to see the Raphael exhibit at the National Gallery. We had planned to see Woman in Black with Robi and Andrew that night, but Rika ended up getting sick and not feeling up to going. So Robi, Andrew and I went and were all three scared, totally freaky! So Thursday I took Rika with my extra suitcase to the train station to depart for the airport, and then came back to Regents to pack for Spain.
Whitney, Andrew and I ventured off for our 2 hour plane ride on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Barcelona on Thursday night. Since I had gotten up early to take Rika to the airport with one of my gigantic suitcases, I decided that I was to tired to venture off on Thursday night, so I stayed in the hostel and updated my journal and then fell asleep early.
Friday we woke up, and after showering and getting some breakfast, we started walking towards Gaudi’s cathedral “La Segrada Familia” [the sacred family]. On the way we found the triumphant arch, which was really cool [click on the underlined for the picture].
And then we did some shopping before we found the cathedral, which, after 100 years of work, is still in the process of being built! Crazy, huh?! But it was absolutely fabulous. It’s all designed in a very naturalistic way, he uses frogs and snails and that sort of stuff in detailing it, and the columns are based on the trunks of trees. The entrance was fabulous.
Anyway, it was really incredible! We liked it so much that when we were done we went on search of another house which he re-designed; also wonderful [can’t find any pictures ‘cause I can’t remember what it’s called]. Then we went shopping for a bit [I bought my first pair of KangaRoo’s] and to dinner on the Mediterranean at a tapas bar [not to be confused, as Andrew was, with a "tap ass" bar (lol)]; the food was so so great. Then we followed dinner with Belgian waffles [yum], and cuban cigars [smile]!
Saturday we started out going to the Picasso museum…pretty neat, but I have to say, he’s not one of my favourite artists. But anyway, we went and that was cool. Then we got baguettes for lunch. We wandered around some more and found a bunch of little outdoor markets, which we meandered through. Then we walked along the Mediterranean coast and talked and just enjoyed. We ended the day with dinner once again on the coast at a different tapas bar [not as great, but this time they had really wonderful wine], and more Belgian waffles with Dulce de Leche topping. Then we turned in early since it was raining outside and there was really nothing else that we wanted to see [and we were pretty worn out]. So we hop into bed only to be woken up at 4am by the bunch of loud obnoxious Spaniard boys who at first were talking in mixed Spanish and English talking about whether or not to turn the lights on….[shakes head]…and then they wouldn’t shut up for the next two hours. Drove me absolutely nuts, and I “shushed” them a few times. I couldn’t believe how loud they were…absolutely ridiculous.
Sunday we got up early and headed back to London [even though our plane was 30 min. late taking off]. We were really tired, needless to say, since the Spaniards kept us up late. But the trip in its entirety was really excellent. I thank the Lord that the Spaniard boys weren’t there the first two nights, and that we didn’t have but only a few instances where we worried about who we’d find in what attire or lack there of in the bathroom. Definitely Spain is a place I plan to travel more of in the future. It was so beautiful.
And that is the last of my European travels….at least during this semester. From here on out, I will be travelling Germany with Mom [smile], which, although stressful at the moment, I’m sure will end up being fantastic. I will attempt to keep the blog updated, but who knows what chances I will have to get to a computer [shrug].
I really have had a fantastic semester. But I am also ready for all the things that I am use to….my car, my phone, my school, my friends, my family, Wal-Mart and McDonalds [smile]. One more month!
<><,
*maike rinaye*
Barcelona! Yeah for Spain and TWO new pairs of shoes!!! Woo Hoo! So Barcelona was the best way to end the semester. I was a bit worried about going the weekend before finals, but there was nothing to worry about [smile].
I should add in here, however, that Rika and Whit got to see the Queen on Wednesday [I was making a presentation on the set design of Simply Heavenly at that time]. And then that afternoon Rika and I went to see the Raphael exhibit at the National Gallery. We had planned to see Woman in Black with Robi and Andrew that night, but Rika ended up getting sick and not feeling up to going. So Robi, Andrew and I went and were all three scared, totally freaky! So Thursday I took Rika with my extra suitcase to the train station to depart for the airport, and then came back to Regents to pack for Spain.
Whitney, Andrew and I ventured off for our 2 hour plane ride on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Barcelona on Thursday night. Since I had gotten up early to take Rika to the airport with one of my gigantic suitcases, I decided that I was to tired to venture off on Thursday night, so I stayed in the hostel and updated my journal and then fell asleep early.
Friday we woke up, and after showering and getting some breakfast, we started walking towards Gaudi’s cathedral “La Segrada Familia” [the sacred family]. On the way we found the triumphant arch, which was really cool [click on the underlined for the picture].
And then we did some shopping before we found the cathedral, which, after 100 years of work, is still in the process of being built! Crazy, huh?! But it was absolutely fabulous. It’s all designed in a very naturalistic way, he uses frogs and snails and that sort of stuff in detailing it, and the columns are based on the trunks of trees. The entrance was fabulous.
Anyway, it was really incredible! We liked it so much that when we were done we went on search of another house which he re-designed; also wonderful [can’t find any pictures ‘cause I can’t remember what it’s called]. Then we went shopping for a bit [I bought my first pair of KangaRoo’s] and to dinner on the Mediterranean at a tapas bar [not to be confused, as Andrew was, with a "tap ass" bar (lol)]; the food was so so great. Then we followed dinner with Belgian waffles [yum], and cuban cigars [smile]!
Saturday we started out going to the Picasso museum…pretty neat, but I have to say, he’s not one of my favourite artists. But anyway, we went and that was cool. Then we got baguettes for lunch. We wandered around some more and found a bunch of little outdoor markets, which we meandered through. Then we walked along the Mediterranean coast and talked and just enjoyed. We ended the day with dinner once again on the coast at a different tapas bar [not as great, but this time they had really wonderful wine], and more Belgian waffles with Dulce de Leche topping. Then we turned in early since it was raining outside and there was really nothing else that we wanted to see [and we were pretty worn out]. So we hop into bed only to be woken up at 4am by the bunch of loud obnoxious Spaniard boys who at first were talking in mixed Spanish and English talking about whether or not to turn the lights on….[shakes head]…and then they wouldn’t shut up for the next two hours. Drove me absolutely nuts, and I “shushed” them a few times. I couldn’t believe how loud they were…absolutely ridiculous.
Sunday we got up early and headed back to London [even though our plane was 30 min. late taking off]. We were really tired, needless to say, since the Spaniards kept us up late. But the trip in its entirety was really excellent. I thank the Lord that the Spaniard boys weren’t there the first two nights, and that we didn’t have but only a few instances where we worried about who we’d find in what attire or lack there of in the bathroom. Definitely Spain is a place I plan to travel more of in the future. It was so beautiful.
And that is the last of my European travels….at least during this semester. From here on out, I will be travelling Germany with Mom [smile], which, although stressful at the moment, I’m sure will end up being fantastic. I will attempt to keep the blog updated, but who knows what chances I will have to get to a computer [shrug].
I really have had a fantastic semester. But I am also ready for all the things that I am use to….my car, my phone, my school, my friends, my family, Wal-Mart and McDonalds [smile]. One more month!
<><,
*maike rinaye*
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