Beautiful German Weather.

For about a week, it has been cold and rainy here. Hopefully it'll make the transition to snow pretty soon. Right now it's 6 Celsius, so it might not get there for a while. Generally I think winters are a lot milder here, as they don't stay below freezing as long as we do in Wisconsin/Minnesota. I've started going to a class in the mornings that is for people that want to become nurses. I'm just there to listen along, so I really don't have to do anything. Usually the family is out of the house until 2 in the afternoon or so, so this gives me some German practice during that time. Plus, it's something I know a little bit about, so it's not so difficult to figure out the vocabulary. I was going to Heidelberg this week on Thursday, but that's been bumped to next Thursday. Right now Florian the youngest is sick, so we're hoping it doesn't spreed to everyone in the house. I'm not too worried due to my ironclad immune system. The renovation to part of the house here is coming along too. Last week we had a little dinner in the renovation zone to christen the new fireplace. It was really just supposed to be a lesson on how to use the thing from the installer, but we ate over there in the empty house and talked for about an hour. Nothing else really happening to me, so I'll let you all get back to what you were doing. See you soon.

Back again

Hello everyone. I've been back with my host family in Bad Hersfeld since last Sunday. I had a great time in Horb, and my German improved a lot there. I only went on one other excursion trip with the group while I was there. We went to Karlsruhe, a university and soccer city on the northern edge of the black forest. They have a cool palace with a really neat garden there, but the city is just a regular city, nothing too special about it. I did get to meet up with 2 of the girls that I met in Munich during Oktoberfest though since they go to school there, so that was cool. I also went on a trip with my host family down there to an indoor swim park, and on the way we made a stop at the top of some mountain in the black forest. It was a nice view. From there one could see the Alps and also France. Not much else is happening around here. My host mother's birthday is Thursday (Thanksgiving - sorry I won't be there) and there will be a party with about 20 people in the house, so Florian the youngest brother and I have been commissioned to be waiters. It should be a nice time. I'm planning on heading to visit Felix in Heidelberg on Thurs 29th Nov for 3 days. I want to check out the city since I plan on taking another intensive course there, if I plan on staying longer. I also picked this date to visit because the Christmas markets begin that Wednesday. And almost every semester in German class, we heard something about how great these markets are. So, I have to see for myself. Other than that, not much else. I'm coming home the 18th Dec, so I'll see you all then.