I made it!

I am safely in Kempten as I write this right now, although it is with a german computer so I keep putting Zs instead of Ys and the shift and enter buttons are very far away. After packing my life successfully into two suitcases, each under 50lbs or about 25kilos, i grabbed my also very full purple carry on, and loaded up to the airport ( about 10.30 on Wenesday). A very tearful goodbye and a breeze through security let me through to the beef of the Minneapolis airport. I did not sleep on the almost 8hr flight to Amsterdam, but had wonderful service. Complimentary Indian food for dinner, a snack, drink, breakfast, and movies throughout the entire trip. Northworst is stepping up these days . . . With the 7hr difference, I arrived in Amsterdam at about 11.55. A 3hr layover and a run in with 2 other exchange students headed to Germany, Hannah from San Francisco and Krista from Oregon, kept me busy while I waited for the next connecting flight. The flight to Munich was running about 30min late, but was very short once we were in the air. After a long wait at the baggage claim, maybe an hour, I left the very white and window-full Munich airport to find Manfred (my Youth Exchange Officer), and the women of the Büchter family. Katharina just turned 18 on August 28th (a day after mine!) and Theresa is 16. Ursula, or Ulla is the very redselig (talkative) mother who is very helpful and reminds me of my own. It was an hour and a half drive to Kempten in Manfreds company van which i guiltily fell asleep during. We then dropped Katharina off to walk her horse (Pferd) Milo and went to the Büchters house. There I unpacked in my own room on the third floor. I share a bathroom with the two girls, as we are the only rooms on the top floor. The second level houses 2 offices, one each for Dieter and Ulla, and their bedroom. The main floor has the kitchen, living room, dining room, guest bedroom, and bathroom. There is a basement where the shoes are kept, a laundry room, and a cellar for wine and storage. There is also accesss to the garage. The house is very gorgeous as they just remodeled it. Dieter, the father, works for Bosch tools & appliances and is also very nice. He is funny as well and very helpful. We had Pizza with pinneaple (Hananas) and ham (Schinken) or tuna. Apple juice was to drink with 3 different kinds of water. Ulla is a really good cook. I went to bed kind of late last night because it was only 5.30 my time, so I was not quite tired, but 12.30pm their time. The family did let me sleep in this morning though, thankfully, and after eating a breakfast (Frühstück) of rolls and nutella or marmalade, Theresa and I played some Table Tennis (Tisch Tennis), or Ping Pong. Katharina then came back from driving lessons and riding her horse and we went to explore Kempten a little bit. I saw the Shopping Center, the biggest in Allgaü, my "county", but not that big to malls back home. We also saw my school which starts 16 September and is very pretty. The whole city has an older charm to it with lots of colors. People dress in as much variety as they do here in the states, maybe more. There are Cafes everywhere, and today I had a plum pastry and fanta at one when we stopped to rest. You walk everywhere in Germany, but most people also have cars (Autos). There is even a special place in Kempten for walking, which I believe is called the Ferngehen Zone, or something like that. It has shops, hair salons, Cafes, and anything else along it. All of the shops open to the little cobblestone streets. In many places the sidewalks are larger, or at least the same size, as the roads. There are also fountains everywhere and trees or other greenery.

Tonight we are having a barbecue, or Grill for Supper (Abendessen). Normally their biggest meal is after school gets out at lunch, about 1.00pm (Mitagessen), but today because everyone slept later it is at Dinner. Tomorrow we are celebrating Katharinas 18th birthday at a cabin in the mountains. Ulla has been baking all afternoon and Katharina is picking things up for it right now. She is very excited, because in Germany 18 is the age you are considered an adult. You can drink hard liquor, drive, vote, and stay in clubs late. At 16 you can drink Wine and Beer and stay in clubs or bars for a while. Im not sure what age you can smoke, I believe it is 16, but it is very common for everyone, even at school. They dont do it inside though.

The Büchters are very, very nice and also very helpful with me understanding things. They say they are very impressed with my German, but I feel like a bumbling idiot. They explain everything (to their best abilities) in English when I dont understand it, and vice versa. They also gave me a very cute teddy bear and card upon my arrival. Hopefully I can learn a bit more German before Vacation (Ferien) ends and we go to school. Katharina spent the last year in Argentina with the Rotary exchange program, so she is especially helpful. It is kind of funny how silent a walk can be or a meal when you dont really know how to express very much. The language does gradually get better however.

I hope everyone back home is enjoying the weather and back to school atmosphere. It is very warm here today so I am in shorts and have been sweating.