January has ended and no posts, I can’t believe it! Slow news month I guess. As usual, January started off with a bang, lulled for a week or so and ended with International excitement. Linn and I traveled to Germany then Denmark and spent our New Year’s Eve with Carolyn (Allison’s sister) and her boyfriend. The day we returned Linn started classes again and has been very busy with projects, lectures and exams ever since. The 20th of January was a huge day in the USA with the inauguration of our 44th President Barack H. Obama. I started back to classes on the 27th to learn more of the French language.
We left for Hahn, Germany on the 27th of December after an abnormally small and quiet Christmas. Hahn Airport, a Ryan Air airport, is only an hour or so outside of Frankfurt but feels like “the middle of nowhere.” A friend of Linn’s from class lives in nearby Geisenheim and came to rescue us from the boredom that is Hahn. Matthias picked us up and drove the scenic route to Geisenheim, ferry ride and all. He took us around the campus where Linn will be attending in Fall 2009 and showed us the little town and the neighboring villages. Geisenheim is a very small town with some shops, restaurants, a pub or two, many homes and the University. The surrounding villages were small, quaint with one main road connecting them all. We had a great day just driving through small town Germany and the countryside and a nice traditional German bratwurst and beer dinner with Matthias and Eva. Prost!
The next morning we flew to Lübeck, Germany about an hour outside of Hamburg. Lübeck is a beautiful, charming little city full of shopping, historical sites and interesting Architecture. There was a Christmas market happening through the end of the year through which we walked. They were selling gluwhein the warm spiced wine as well as meats, treats and goodies. It was a fun market. We saw most of the main island by foot and the rest of the city by car as we were leaving. It was in Lübeck that we ate truly German food bratwurst, sauerkraut, few vegetables, Schnitzel, spaetzle, and lots of beer. Woohoo!
Carolyn and Lars picked us up in Lübeck and we four drove four hours North through beautiful German countryside to Esbjerg on the Western coast of Denmark. We stayed in and around Esbjerg in their cute little apartment and learned a little about all things Danish. Lars took us for a walk through a small forest that opened to a quarry with a few little ponds. The ponds were nearly completely frozen through. Linn discovered the coolest sound by “skipping” rocks on these ponds so we all started throwing rocks, good times.
Later that day we stopped by Lars parents place, a 25 year old brick home right on the water; it was a beautiful home. His parents were both very kind; we all sat and chatted over a glass of wine and some homemade marzipan treats. That night we went to René’s home for New Years and though Linn and I were still very ill we enjoyed our time with everyone. Lars, Carolyn, Rene, Lone, Linn and I all sat in front of the T.V. to watch the Danish Queen address her people. The 70-something Queen mentioned the war, the economy and spoke of her hopes for a bright new year. After the broadcast we all gathered around the dinner table and our feast began. There were two, fairly similar yet equally delicious appetizers: a thin slice of bread with butter shrimp and hardboiled egg. The other was also a thin slice of bread with mayonnaise, lox, hardboiled egg and dill dressing. The main course was bacon- wrapped steak, green beans, potatoes and gravy. Linn and I decided to head back to the apartment after dinner as we weren’t feeling well and watch fireworks from the windows. What an amazing display it was! The land around their town is so flat that we could see for miles. What looked like every 3 inches there was another display of huge fireworks. Apparently the Danes love their fireworks. Happy New Year!
We spent the first couple days of the New Year in Esbjerg seeing different small cities, the North Sea and downtown Esbjerg. A touristy area, there were lots of German license plates out by the ocean. After those few relaxing, lazy days of recovering from whatever flu we had the four of us drove to Copenhagen. I had read lots about Copenhagen and how the art, design and architecture industries are really booming so I was excited to see the city. We only had one day and night there so we didn’t get to see that much but what we did see wasn’t what I had in my mind. I was an old city, lots of old buildings much like every other city in Europe not destroyed during war. We went to the Museum of Industrial Art and Design, which was interesting. We took a walk along the main shopping district in the rain, perhaps if we had had more time it would have been better. Glad to have seen what we did though.
Since our trip, Linn and I have both started back to school and are back to weekends only for free time. I’ve completed my resume and cover letter translations and have gone around looking for work. Linn’s courses have been really interesting for him and he is really glad he is in this program. I’ll let him explain all that :) School and hanging out with friends is really all we’ve been up to this month. Though the 20th of January was exciting for us and for every French person we spoke with. Friends of ours hosted an inaugural dinner at their apartment where they have a television and cable! There were seven Americans and two French all watching the swearing in ceremony, it was a good time. Then enjoyed a great meal and discussed lots of things past, present and future in some version of Franglish.
As for February, we’re headed to Bordeaux for a few days and then sometime in March we’ll be going to the Alps so I promise there will be more posts soon. We wish everyone a happy, healthy and more prosperous 2009.
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