TGIF!

Today was a good day. School went well--I stayed busy most of the time, so that was great. Drafted up an e-mail to send out to the teachers offering my help with research projects, special projects, reading stories, or giving book talks. I also told them of my technology background.. well, it hasn't been sent out yet. My supervising teacher was going to look over it first. Hopefully send it out Tuesday.

After school today, Liz, Sallie, and I went to the nearby Airforce base, Ramstein, with Liz's supervising teacher (Mrs. E.) on a spur-of-the-moment trip. We had SO much fun. But first, we stopped at the post office so Sallie could pick up her box that came in the mail. Then Mrs. E. she showed us the gym, where her daughter happens to work. We found out we can use the gym! I'm excited. I see some biking in my future. :) And maybe a Zumba class.

Ramstein is about 30-40 minutes away probably. It was a nice, scenic drive. Such charming little villages everywhere. Apparently, they were initially created because of religion. One would be Protestant, the next Catholic, and so on. So the villages are all really close to each other. Getting on to base was funny. Mrs. E. thought we could get on base with our "official guest" passes. Wrong. We're only guests at Baumholder. We got through the line and had to turn around so Mrs. E. could sign us in at the Visitor Center. They stopped traffic so we could turn around. It was pretty funny. Because Mrs. E. is so official, we just show our passports and they get us signed in. Then we got back in line and got through no problems. Ha!

On Ramstein is a nice mall, so we looked around and did a little shopping. I bought this very German thing to buy. It's a wooden elephant (but there are many different choices of animals and humans) that hangs by a spring. So neat. Plus I love elephants. We walked around the mall, ate at this American restaurant that's in there. I'd never heard of it. Macaroni Grill or something like that. It's Italian food. It was really good. They have a BX there, rather than a PX. It was basically like a department store. I bought some coffee filters (since I now have a coffee pot!!) and some German chocolate. The brand of chocolate puts out this sample pack of all the different kinds. Can't wait to try it! We had a great time and fun conversation this evening.

On the way back to Baumholder, we stopped at Mrs. E.'s house and she let us borrow some movies since we each have been watching the same couple of movies over and over. Her daughter and daughter's boyfriend were there. We hung out with them for quite a while and had a really good time. By the time we got home, it was 9:30. Long day, but really fun. It was great to get out of Baumholder, too. My roommate, though, was locked out of the apartment all that time. Normally I get home before her, so she didn't have her key with her. I was afraid that had happened. But luckily she wasn't mad or anything! In fact, she'd eaten a bunch of chocolate-covered coffee beans, so she's a little hyper.. to say the least.

We got back and found a little pile of stuff sitting outside our doors for us: things that had been donated by teachers. As of yesterday, Jenna and I have an American plug microwave (110v), which we couldn't use since our outlets haven't been fixed. But we got a 220v microwave today! Hooray!! I also got a 220 plug lamp to put in my room. We have a another pot, a strainer, a couple pot holders, and a couple transformer/adapter plug thingers. :)

In the morning, Kaye is picking us up and taking us to the train station at Neubrucke (Nahe). That's where we got off the train when we were coming from the airport in Frankfurt. Neubrucke is a nearby town. Our train departs at 8:32 a.m. We ride to Saarbrucken and switch trains to get to Trier. We should arrive in Trier around 1. Going on this trip is Jenna, Emma, Al, Quintin, Terry (our BSU supervisor), and myself. Should be a good group. The others are going to Paris on a two-day tour through a German travel company in Baumholder.

Here are all the different I.D.s I have to have. Obviously there is my passport and drivers license. The top left card is my International Student ID Card--ISIC. It can get me discounts or into places for free, like museums and what not. The bottom left one is my base pass. That's the one that says I'm an official guest. The bright yellow one is what I use to buy stuff on base. I've never been asked to show it at the PX or Commissary on Baumholder, but I was asked for it today at Ramstein.