Distance

One of the main differences Germans notice between their culture and ours is the concept of distance. For example, I don't know many people in Los Angeles who consider San Francisco too far to travel for a long weekend. But in the amount of time it takes to get from LA to SF, one could travel from Diethardt to Amsterdam, Berlin, or Zurich, and I know very few Germans who would consider traveling so far for a weekend. I, however, always try it, and end up thinking that maybe Germans are right in thinking it's too far for a long weekend. I wonder if I'll feel the same way next time I'm in California and someone suggests driving down to Ensenada.

Anyway, I knew going into it that driving to Holland after an entire week with the kids at Jadogar would be tiring, but I did it anyway because I couldn't stand the thought of missing my last chance to hang out with Jorden.

The week at Jadogar was exhausting, and I came suddenly to appreciate just how ORGANIZED was the Vacation Bible School that I did last summer at Coast. I remember thinking then that it was a bit "übertrieben", but Jadogar was borderline chaos.

What happened was that the person who's organized Jadogar for the past five years had chosen to step back this year, and Rita Fischer stepped up, not because she particularly wanted to, but because it was needed, and as such, she attempted as much as possible to delegate all responsibilities. Now, this in itself was not a problem, except that it left no one in a position of directing what was supposed to happen at what time. We had plenty of activities planned, but without a set time schedule, the kids were left mostly free to themselves to jump on the trampoline, play sports, or splash around in the stream that runs behind the cloister (all under supervision, of course). Now, this also was well and good, and most of the kids left Friday afternoon with a very positive impression, HOWEVER, large groups of kids have a limit as to how long they can play nicely together. Sooner or later, someone starts to get bored, or feel left out, or bully the others, and then we would have to attempt to hurry them in for an activity to distract them, but once the activity was over, it was back to playing by themselves.

Joel was one of the younger kids there, and was a bit reluctant to initiate contact with the older boys, so except for during activities, he spent most of the week with his little buddy Constantin, the neighbor kid. This also was not a problem, except that Constantin only wanted to play with the girls, meaning that Joel still did not have any contact with the older boys. And not only that, Constantin was not feeling well which manifested itself in the form of him being a party-pooper and not wanting to participate in any of the activities, and of course when Constantin didn't want to play neither did Joel.

The situation reached a peak Wednesday, the night of the sleepover. The kids had been distributed among the various dorm rooms, and I asked where the adults were supposed to sleep, and I never got a specific answer, so I found a free bed in a room that contained several of the other younger kids whom I expected to be problematic, and sure enough, during the course of the night, one of my six kids peed his pants, a second pooped in hers, and a third vomited all over her sleeping bag. Nevertheless, I found out later that none of the other counselors had slept at all, running from room to room, and I understood why they didn't have an answer about where they would sleep.

I was exhausted Thursday night, but I didn't allow myself a chance to rest. Katrin, you remember, my German twin, was leaving the following Monday for a year in Australia, so I drove into Wiesbaden to hang out with her one last time. I got home late that night, slept a couple of hours, and went back to Jadogar one more time.

I was on the road shortly before 5, and made my way to Koblenz train station where I was supposed to be meeting Willow, and another girl who had responded to my ridesharing ad online.

Hillary was already there by the time I arrived, but as I had pretty much expected, Willow's train was delayed and we had to wait nearly an hour for her to arrive, by which time Hillary and I were very anxious to hit the road.

We arrived in Utrecht around 10, where Hillary met a friend, and then Willow and I had to keep going to get to Delft (you know, the place that sells the blue pottery), and after construction on the freeway, we finally made it to Jorden's apartment, where we briefly met his brother, picked up Rendy who was already there, and made our way to our campsite. If I had to guess, it was probably around 12:30 before we finally got to sleep.

The next morning we went to Amsterdam for a free walking tour. If you are ever in a European capital, I highly recommend them. They last about 3-4 hours, are extremely informative, and the guides are usually highly entertaining because they rely only on tips.

We were hoping to still make it to Den Haag in time to visit the MC Escher Museum, but the tour went longer than planned, and by the time we arrived, the museum was closed and there was a wedding reception taking place. I was disappointed, but then at least I didn't have to feel guilty about seeing the museum without Simon (he's probably the biggest Escher fan I've ever met).

Dinner that evening was typical Dutch fast food: there's a counter with various pre-prepared meat products which upon your request are placed in a huge vat of sizzling hot oil. It was delicious, of course, but I don't think know how often I could eat it without my stomach exploding.

I really didn't want to leave so early Sunday, but that evening was the final match of the Eurocup in which Germany was playing and Holland unfortunately not, so of course we had to be in Germany for it. Willow begged me to go to Stuttgart with her and watch it at the public viewing on screen, but I had to work Monday, so I had to turn her down. Instead, I watched it in Diethardt in the Burgerhaus. The game was.....highly disappointing.

Manuela had to work Monday morning so of course I was at home with the kids, but it was beautiful weather so we went to the swimming pool. Manuela met us there after work, and then I was free to drive to Frankfurt and visit my Andrea! We had a lovely dinner and drinks on the bank of the Main. I spent the night at her house, and the next morning I went shopping before meeting another friend for lunch.

Afterwards I drove into Wiesbaden, where I did some more shopping (I finally bought the book "Hector's Reise" which I've been hearing about for months. It's really good, although not as impressive as it seemed after the first couple of chapters. Still, as far as I can tell, it hasn't been translated into English yet, so I'm tempted to take that on as a project. Then I met Natalya, Iryna, Barbara and Kristof for probably the last time (Maria was already on vacation :(

The rest of the week was relaxing. We went two more times to the swimming pool, and didn't end up going to Paris after all. I don't know what it is about that city, but somehow I've never had much luck getting there.

Instead I went down to Tübingen where Willow and I celebrated the 4th of July with the other Americans. Saturday we hung out in Heilbronn with Sascha and his coworkers, and then I came home late that evening.

Sunday I went to church in Wiesbaden for probably the last time, and this is my official last week of work. I've already packed my suitcase, and it weighs approximately 28 kilos. I can take 23 for free, but up to 10 kilos extra costs only 25€ so that's probably worth it. Still, I'm hoping after I get back from Switzerland and Italy, that I'll be able to rearrange more of the heavier items into my backpack(s), which currently only weigh 18 kilos together.

Rendy gets in tonight, and Nelly Furtado is giving an open-air concert in Wiesbaden which I'm hoping to be able to hear a bit of without having paid 60€ for a ticket.

Satuday is the Jack Johnson concert that I've been looking forward to since January, and Sunday we leave for Switzerland. First stop along the way is Tübingen, because Marion and Anita are having a going-away barbecue for the students who have mostly finished classes and are already heading home. Then it's (hopefully) off to Konstanz where Rendy and I will be renting bicycles and riding around the Bodensee, visiting Frank in Friedrichshafen along the way.

We'll also make a quick stop in Liechtenstein (just to say we've been there), and once again in Chur, which is where we will probably buy supplies. Then it's off through the Alps into Italy. From Chur it's about 200 kilometers until we reach the flatlands of Northern Italy, and we are hoping to cover it all on foot until we are supposed to meet Willow in Milan around the end of the month. I'm estimating about ten days, figuring that there will be days where we cover a lot more than 20 km, and days where we take it easy, but I think it's doable.

From Milan, next stop is Venice, then Florence (with a day trip to Pisa, of course), then hopefully about a week in Rome before we fly back to Karlsruhe on August 12th. Then we are in Tübingen from August 13th-15th where Willow will be volunteering at the orientation for new students, and on the 16th Rendy and I will head back to Diehardt and Willow most likely to Heilbronn, and the two of them fly home on the 18th.

Simon comes home on the 19th, and then I have one more lovely weekend with him and the family before I fly home on the 27th.

I'll try to update now and then in between, but I can't promise anything. If you need to get a hold of me, e-mail is as usual the best.

Love you all and can't wait to see you back in California!