Schoenen Fruehling

It's official: I love spring here. There's something so nice about being on the WKYT news site and hearing about the daily tornadoes and thunderstorms back home, turning my computer off, and going outside to enjoy the 70 degree, always sunny German springtime. It's really something!

As you might haven noticed if you read my last post, I am having some roommate issues again. Luckily I don't regularly spend a lot of time around here and it shouldn't be an issue for too much longer since I'll once again be busy with school and life. There's just a little too much tension for my liking at the moment.

Easter was absolutely fantastic. I woke up, made a cake, and then joined some of my friends in town for a little Easter get together. We had brown sugar crusted ham, green beans, rolls, Osterbrot, a turkish salad with tomatoes and onions, mashed potatoes, and lemon bars. It was so perfect and delicious. We all stuffed ourselves and then spent the rest of the day by the river playing Frisbee, skipping rocks, and hanging out. It was a great day. I even got to hang out with a cat; the first one in Germany that has allowed me to get closer than ten yards to it. It let me pet it and hung out with me for awhile, basically making my day even better.

Me and my feline Freund. 

I came home late and watched a movie waiting for Morgan to get back. She had gone to Neuschwanstein, which is the castle that Disney used in creating the images for the Sleeping Beauty castle. Apparently it was really beautiful and she enjoyed it. Hopefully I get a chance to go at some point!

The rest of the week has just been relaxation, trying to get into shape, and going on long walks. Morgan and I are determined to walk everywhere so we have been avoiding the bus as much as is possible. There are really so many lovely places to walk to around here. Friday we are planning on going to the Dachau concentration camp, which should be very interesting. I have wanted to visit there ever since we have gotten here. Then we have one last weekend until classes start for the summer semester. It is really strange that everyone back home is finishing up the year and here I am just getting mine started! I also will soon be in contact with my new host family. Even though we are living in the dorms, we have all been assigned a host family that will show us around everywhere and occasionally invite us to participate in family activities. I am excited to meet mine and to get to speak even more German. Next month I am hopefully going to travel to Paris or Barcelona. I have been keeping my eye on the budget flights hoping to run into a good deal!

Love you all and hope that no one has been swept away to Kansas.

Ashley

Morgan, Liz and I exchanged treats on Easter. Needless to say all have already been consumed.

Just an angry little shout out...

To the most awful German roommates a girl could ever ask for. Here's to you, passive-aggressive Melania, who thinks that she deserves an entire fridge and cabinet when there are only two for all 5 roommates. And to you, Christian, for being the biggest creep on this side of the Atlantic.

Kitty is not a fan of you, evil roommates!

Rude notes never got anyone anywhere!! Also unpolite is not real! Petty English police are on patrol after this note.

Oster!

Hi! I miss everyone a lot and I hope that everything is great at home. It's Oster time here in Germany (well... I guess in the US too) and that means that absolutely nothing will be open the next four days. Good thing I stocked up on food and chocolate alike for the weekend!

I finally have a computer charger, which directly correlates with having internet access, so hopefully now I will update more often. I wouldn't put money on it, however. Things here are going great. I am done with my Sprachkurs and am currently enjoying a two week vacation of doing nothing. It's really nice to be able to a) sleep in b) go out without worrying about how miserable I will be the next day c) actually see what Regensburg looks like between the hours of 8am-3pm. The weather was kind of awful the last week of class and into that first weekend, but now it is seventies and sunny everyday. I love it. A lot of people here spend their free time sitting on the banks beside the river and picnicking or hanging out and we have just started doing that. All of the little picturesque biergartens are opening up and it really is lovely around here. One day I will go into town and take a lot of pictures so everyone can see it.

We finished up finals last week and I managed to survive them. We hung out with friends and enjoyed going out at night the first weekend and spent the days cooking for hours and hanging out around town. The night that exams were over we had a program party where everyone brought international food and drinks. It was a pretty ridiculous evening... I will leave that open to interpretation! Morgan's friend, Jason, who is from KY but works nearby at the military base, came in for the weekend and brought us Jif peanut butter!

I also have forced myself to start running and working out again so that I am not miserable trying to get in shape in July. It's kind of nice to spend a little of the day running and walking outside, especially when you have the time to do it. This weekend I will be celebrating Easter with a few friends here. We plan on having an easter egg hunt and a feast. I guess if I can't have Easter at home, this will be a close second! Today was a pretty good day. I woke up, watched an episode of House (I am addicted again! Beware!), went running, and then met up with some friends to try the running sushi place in town. It was quite good considering it was all you can eat and I ate so much that I definitely have not been able to make an appetite recovery. My friend from Transy, Ted, was in town throughout the day and I met him around 8 to get a drink. He studied here two years ago and really enjoyed being back in Regensburg. It really is a nice place and it was great to see a familiar face from home.

I am entirely unsure of what else I will be doing this weekend. I plan on going on a really long walk tomorrow since I have nothing much else to do. I miss everyone and hope you all have a great holiday!

Love Ashley

View from our hike in nearby Adlersberg village

Liz and I enjoying it not being freezing

Der Dom in Regensburg

Stark Bier Fest, Tiergarten, Exams

I know that I am the worst blog updater out there, but it has been a crazy few weeks and I am yet again short on internet connection. My mom sent me her laptop as soon as I arrived here since mine was not working out, but last Wednesday the charger completely stopped working and since then I have been unable to get online at home. Rudy is sending me another charger this week, so hopefully I will have it by the weekend. In the meantime I have been borrowing my friends computers and coming here (the University computer lab) to do work.

I don't even know where to begin with the last few weeks, but I believe a quick summary and then some fun details will do the trick. One thing to note about Germany is that a change in weather conditions can quickly make life go from decent to fantastic. Not only has the weather been sunny and in the 60s and 70s, but I finally don't have to drag a huge coat around everywhere.I have spent a lot of time outside walking, discovering cool new places in Regensburg, and getting to know the city better. It is the last week of my intensive language course and we have all of our tests this Thursday and Friday. I am so ready for this dreadful course to be over. It really has put a damper on the trip since it takes up so much time! Once it is over, we have two weeks off and then we begin our summer courses. I have set up my schedule so that I only have class on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday so I will definitely have a lot more free time.

So now on to the actually fun things that I have been up to....

 In Germany, the Germans have learned how to best take advantage of the weather turning lovely: A  massive beer festival. Two weekends ago we  made plans to go to the Stark Bier Festival in Munich after hearing that it is "Like Oktoberfest, only better." We spent all week preparing, which included buying dirndls.

On the Thursday before the festival Morgan and I decided to venture into the Lederhosen and Tracht store in town to buy our own. We got there and hilarity instantly ensued. It was really funny to look through all of the dresses and to try them on, especially with the store lady following us around like she did. We ended up getting a really good deal and it was definitely worth it. 

Saturday we woke up around 8:45 to catch the bus into town so we could ride the train to Munich. On the train, we sat with our Colorado friends who always provide a lot of entertainment. They were helped out by the train's beverage seller, who caught us up on the latest celebrity news and even a few live performances of Britney Spears. We got to Munich around 12:15, got lunch, and walked to the brewery that was hosting the festival for the weekend. It was absolutely packed. There were millions of long tables in  the outside area and the same number inside the beer hall.

Inside the Beer hall.... crazy!

We spent the entire day eating Wurst and Brezel, sitting and enjoying the sun.... and of course enjoying the delicious beer. I really don't find most beers delicious, so you will have to take my word for it that this beer was the king of all beers. The day was long and amazing and by the time we got home I was definitely ready to sleep by midnight.

Last weekend we went on yet another adventure in Munich. We went to the zoo to celebrate one of the Coloradans birthdays and it was a great time. We even got to see some giraffes. On the way back we stopped at our friend Charlene's birthday party at Galerie. I ended up going home pretty early but Liz and Morgan (especially Morgan) had a pretty eventful evening... Sunday I woke up early and went on a hike in nearby Adlersberg with the rest of the DaF group and it was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately I forgot that the sun also exists in Germany (who knew!) and I got sunburned from spending five hours walking outside and eating lunch at the beergarden. Once I got back, even though I was exhausted, I ended up going on a long walk with Morgan and Liz to a bridge over the Donau that was nearby. I must have walked about thirteen miles the entire day, but I am in great need of a workout anyways thanks to all of the beer and wurst, so I am sure it didn't hurt me.

Donau

So the rest of this week will be pretty boring as I get ready to take all of my exams, but I am really looking forward to the end of this boring dreadful class and the beginning of summer! I cannot believe I have already been here almost two months, but I am really glad that I still have more than three to enjoy!

I promise I will update this more often and in better detail once I have a working laptop!

Love Ashley