Duesseldorf Digest

Hi. Arriving in Germany is great and being able to speak the language is even better. I have helped people order food and it helped us on the Scavanger hunt today. We have done a lot of walking so far, even more than we were supposed to do. Yesterday we were supposed to take a bus tour around the city but the bus company made a mistake so we just walked around the City with Dr. Wasser and Olaf telling us what they knew. On the way we had ice-cream and I had mango and apricot flavored. It was extremely good. Knowing German was helpful on the Scavanger hunt today because we could ask questions in German so we got answers even if the people could not speak English. We also got 32 bags from expensive stores which was quite a trip. One store wanted 5 Euro for a bag. We obviously didn't get a bag there. My host mom Heidi is really sweet. I have my own room on the second floor and Heather is in the other room. the houses here are extremely small in area but often 3 stories high because land is so expensive. The steps are also extremely steep. There is a park across the street with birds and rabbits. They are very cute. We have to take the tram from our host home to the AIB which stands for Akadamie fuer Internationale Bildung which means Acadamy for International Education. They teach students to make short documentary films here during the semesters. They have students each semester from California.

I bet it must be interesting coming here and not understanding German. I will find out what it is like when we go to Paris. Apparently we will be there the weekend the Tour de France ends there. I hope it is not too crazy. I am glad we are in Germany most of the time so I can just practice my German. Frau Pilatz is teaching everyone basic German and it is impressive how fast everyone is picking it up. Since I already know the information she's teaching she is bringing in books for me to read. I told her that the newspaper was a little to difficult for me even now. I tried in Frankfurt and could understand some things but it was incredibly difficult. I do like being in the room though because I did learn one thing today that I had a wrong. I figure I will continue learning.

I think that's all for now. Let's see if this posting works.