Sunday, July 17th- Last Full Day With Host Family

By Ashley Sparkman

Today. Der letzte ganze Tag mit meiner Familie. You share a house with a group of people for three weeks, and are treated with unimaginable kindness, and that's what you start to see those people as- Familie. Even with a language barrier.

I woke up to the sound of church bells ringing noon. Even though the church bells in Greven seem to ring far too many times to ever denote a time of day. Keeping the standard twenty-four hour clock in Germany in mind as well. It would appear jet-lag got the best of me yet again. Touche, my foe. Touche. I haven't been able to stay up for more than four hours without nearly falling asleep, and yesterday was especially anstregend (exhausting).

By the time I got downstairs, most of meine Familie was off enjoying the slightly warm weather at a farmer's market. Note the slightly warm. I've had to wear a jacket almost every day I've been in Greven. I found Debbie, my partner, studying for an important driving test. I ate breakfast: bread, a German favorite, with jam and a hard boiled egg on the side. I uselessly warded off a bee, or vesper, that plagued me as I ate. It seems one can't ever be free of bees whilst in Germany. Not enough pesticides, I'd say. I checked my email, hoping I wouldn't have to decipher any complicated German. The first time I used Debbie's laptop I didn't know how to turn it off because everything was in German. Unfortunately, I must have been sick the day we learned computer vocabulary in Deutsch eins. It took ten minutes of me flipping through my dictionary.

When I went back downstairs, there were cookies and deserts sitting out. This seems to be a fairly common happening, a small seperate meal of cookies and cake. I'd say it's one habit I wouldn't mind bringing home. I sat down with meine Mutter and meine jüngere Schwester, Luisa, and the three of us decided to go to Spielfest together. From what I've seen, Germany has a lot of little festivals. I've been to two, this weekend alone, for children. Everything but the food, free. It's incredible.

We rode our bikes. Thankfully, I'm starting to adapt to the German bikes, which are not generally made for the short. And by German standards, I'm short at a full 5'5. We rode past a beach volleyball tournament and along the Ems (the river that runs through Greven) until we reached the open-air pool where the Spielfest was held.

Luisa and I made an attempt at stacking cups into a pyramid and then unstacking them. All the while being timed. Then we tried to toss rings onto little posts. She, of course, bested me with her three to my one. She changed into her swimsuit and joined the hoards of kids that ruled the pool grounds. I stayed with meine Mutter, who speaks only a few words of English, and we talked while Luisa attempted everything from kayaking to scubba diving in the pool. Later, Luisa and I downed a waffel, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and then played on the Spielplatz (playground). We rode back home so that I wouldn't be late for the train to Münster.

Luisa getting suited up for scubba diving in the the shallow end.

I've been to Münster about four or so times, with only a quick ten minute train ride each way, and had plans with Debbie to meet other GAPPies there for dinner. We walked with Gabbie and her partner to the station and found Ellyn with her partner and her partner's sister once we reached the city.

Debbie and Gabbie's partner passing by a metal bars. Try riding a
bike through that.

Our German partners talking.

Gabbie had been to a museum earlier that day, and Ellyn had just been walking
around the city with Jake, Zach and their partners. All together, we walked to
Vapiano, an intalian restaraunt where the person you order from is also the
cook, who makes your meal immediately in front of you .

Ellyn and a cook at Vapiano.

After dinner, Ellyn, her partner and her partner's sister took off for the train station. The rest of us continued to walk around the city. All of the retail stores were closed, as is usual in Germany on a Sunday. Debbie and Carmen, Gabbie's partner, acted as tour guides, showing us the Kirche (church) and die Dom (cathedral) of Münster. The three cages hanging from the church had apparently been used to punish people, used to starve them. Inside of the Dom, Mass was being held. Carmen lit a candle for her sister's baby, due tomorrow. We found a place to sit down along the cobble stone street and talked.

The Kirche with the three cages hanging in the
tower.

Debbie and Carmen walking towards the Dom.

After a while, we got up and walked to an icecream shop. I got zwei Kugel, snickers and tiramisu. I've been getting a nice cross selection of tiramisu, sampling that flavor from at least six vendors all across Germany. There's something about German icecream that makes it a reason in itself to visit good, old Deutschland. Then we headed back to the train station. When I got home, I watched "Men In Black 2" in German with Debbie and her parents and then got ready for bed.

I've definitely taken a lot from my experiences in Germany, learning history, tasting earth-shattering icecream, being able to understand more every day, and forming connections that I will remember for a long time to come.