Day 3 here in Germany!

Last night Carolyn and I took the train down to Volksfest in Stuttgart...IT WAS UH-MAZING! When we first got there, we had a couple of jager shots to fit in the locals...ugh! After I coughed down shot number two, we headed over to the tents...which were HUGE closed off tents filled with really long wooden tables that could probably seat close to a hundred people each...and the tents were totally packed! We were lucky enough to get seats at such a table right next to a couple of German boys who were students at the local university...super cute and super nice and super good English! We then took the train back to what we thought was the right station, but it wasn't...so we took a taxi back home to Echterdingin and promptly fell asleep!

Today, Bryn, Nate, and I are working on getting my bedroom all put together, playing Farkle (thanks for the dice, Mama!) and just hanging out around the haus to gear up for tomorrow...the Fest again!

I MADE IT!!! Germany is so beautiful, so clean, so green! My flight wasn't as horrible as I thought it might be, and it was awesome because I met my cousin Josh at XNA airport unexpectdly and we were on the same flight to Atlanta!! He was so sweet, took me for appetizers and good talks. Then on the trans-atlantic flight I sat next to a man who was an older German gentleman who currently lives in the states...He laughed at me for what my adventures might hold, especially not speaking German. I know i'll be ok, though, I know that this language  barrier will not be as big of a deal as he probably thought. I also sat across from a very cute german guy who was traveling with (i assume) his grandparents...he was a total doll!
Anyway...Bryn and Carolyn picked me up from the Stuttgart airport around 9 am this morning. we went back to the apartment ( which is HUGE! for Europe!) and kind of settled in and unpacked and freshened up before going to dinner at Faviano's, an Italian "cafeteria" type place where you choose what you want to eat from a menu (in english!) and then watch the line chefs cook it right in front of you! We enjoyed a lesiurely meal and then walked around downtown Stuttgart checking out the tons of cute little shops...went to a HUGE indoor farmer's market type place with lots of different vendors. I was so tired after though! We went back to the apartment and I absolutely CRASHED for about 4 hours...I set my alarm, but didn't even hear it go off! Woke up around 5:15 to the sound of Nate, Bryn's man, who is fabulous, btw, singing downstairs haha... later, the four of us, (Me, Bryn, Carolyn, and Nate) went out to dinner at a local bier garten here in Echerdingin and stayed for almost four hours!!

PICS TO FOLLOW!!

i don't know why nothing was posted under my last post...?

tuesday isn't that far away

So I've been pricing tickets.
And what I want to know is, why the hell is it cheaper to buy a round-trip ticket than it is to buy a one-way?
Regardless, it does make my life a little easier to know that I have a return date.
And my dad wants me to come home for Christmas, which I didn't think I'd be able to afford...but now I think I might be able to swing it!
Probable purchase date:

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH

Ahhh, Germany, I can hear you calling my name
every.
single.
day.
And you're sounding pretty sweet!!

Drive. Incubus.

Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear
And I can't help but ask myself how much I let the fear
Take the wheel and steer
It's driven me before
And it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal
But lately I'm beginning to find that I
Should be the one behind the wheel

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there

So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive
Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?
It's driven me before
And it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around
But lately I'm beginning to find that
When I drive myself my light is found

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there

Would you choose water over wine
Hold the wheel and drive

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
With open arms and open eyes yeah

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there
I'll be there


(its opener there in the wide open air)

I sit here, in the same chair where I last wrote a post on the lovely years, what seems like ages ago.  At this time last year, I was embarking on a journey that took me nowhere and everywhere, too.  It took me into an in-between-place, a place between childhood and adulthood. I had decided take a semester off. And then, in December, I decided to take another semester yet.  And now, August 2010, I choose to take yet another, third semester off.  What will I do with my life?

I have no idea.

Who am I?

I have a vague idea. I know who I want to be, I know who I was, but I'm not 100% sure I know who I am. However, I'm not 100% sure anyone ever knows exactly who they are. Perhaps I just am.

Well folks, I want to figure it out!

I'm moving to Germany.

I don't have an exact depature date yet.

But then, I don't have a return date either!

This is the tentative plan, for now:

Leave Arkansas (I'm thinking mid September). Travel halfway across the world. Join Bryn and Carolyn in a little village outside of Stuttgart. Get a job on the American Military base in Stuttgart. Begin to learn German. Practice French, in France. Traipse around Europe with Bryn. I'm talking hostels, backpacks, and trains here! Oh, and I'd like to...

find myself

because truthfully, I'm a little lost.

And I can't think of anywhere else I might likely be, other than Europe.

So pray for me.
Send light and love my way when you think of me.
And read my blog, if you'd like to know more about my adventures in the wild wide world.



(its opener there in the wide opener air)