Yes, we have left Heidelberg a few times

We recently realized that if you read our blog you might get the feeling that we've never really left Heidelberg, so I decided to catch up on all of the trips we've taken. Initially, we thought that we'd be doing a lot of traveling to other countries, but this Germany is so beautiful that we've really focused our time on nearby towns and cities.

LINDAU

Our first overnight trip was to Lindau, a place that just might have become my favorite place on Earth. It's a little island town on the Bodensee (Lake Constance), which is at the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Looking out across the harbor, past the New Lighthouse (which was built in the 1850s, in contrast the the yellow-topped Old Lighthouse built in the 1400s), you can see the alps on the far side of the lake. One day we rented bicyles and had what we all decided was a perfect day-- riding around town, riding over the causeway to the mainland, riding along the coast of the lake, and then finishing the day with a vigorous game of minigolf.

STRASBOURG, FRANCE

Our first trip out of the country was to Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of France. The entire old part of the town is surrounded by a series of rviers and canals, so we took a boat tour around the town before touring it on foot. The cathedral there is breathtaking, and we climbed to the spire for a priceless view of the city.

TRIER

We went with the students on a day-long field trip to Trier. The boys loved playing in the ruins of the Roman amphitheater, and it was amazing to see how well-preserved the Roman gates, the Porta Negra were.

DAY-TRIPS TO NEARBY TOWNS WITH MY PARENTS

My parents were able to come visit for over a week, and we had a great time showing them around. Although we had hoped to go on a weekend-long trip, that weekend there was a train strike, so we ended up deciding just to visit several of the small towns that we could get to on local trains. First, we went to Ladenburg, a town with some Roman-era ruins.

In Ladenburg, we had a very unique dinner-- a restaurant there specializes in a really unique cooking style. They bring out a slab of marble that has been heated at 1400 degrees, and then you cook your steak directly on this searingly hot stone. Can you imagine an American restaurant with a children's menu that includes placing a 1400 degree stone in front of a kid? Dom felt like such a big kid, cooking his own steak (Notice Stacy deftly stopping Ian's hand as he's reaching for the stone!)

We also took them to back to Speyer, as well as Schwetzingen, where the castle gardens are beyond belief.

ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER

While my parents were here, we also went with Karl Drehsel to an incredibly picturesque medieval town, Rothenburg. The town still is surrounded by its medieval wall, which you can still walk around. Karl also took us by a local glass factory, where Ian decided that his new career goal is to be a glass maker. We enjoyed the scenery, the wall, and Stacy found Kurbiscremesuppe (Pumpkin Cream Soup).

WIEN, OESTERREICH (Vienna, Austria)

The educational field trip this semester was a five day trip to Wien. I was completely caught off-guard. I expected a quaint little city, but I had no idea what grandeur we would see there. Most of the buildings were just too large and too impressive to capturn in pictures. But what an incredible week! We went to the Schoenbrunn Palace, and had fun with a group of our students running around in a giant hedge maze in the palace gardens. Stacy and Dominic went with one group of students to a museum that houses the works of a modern artist named Hundertwasser, a man who believed that straight lines were immoral since you don't find straight lines in nature, so all of his works were based on naturalistic curves, while Ian and I went to a military history museum, where we saw the car that the Archduke Ferdinand was riding in when he was assassinated-- along with his 90-year old blood-stained clothers! Stacy and I got to hear a concert that featured Strauss and Mozart music, and all of us saw the Royal Treasury.

We even had a chance to go see the house of Sigmund Freud. It was interesting to see the place where one person, single-handedly, came up with ideas that set the field of psychology backwards for about 40 years. Even more fun, however, was getting to eat cake at Freud's favorite cafe, Cafe Landtmann.

One of the boys' favorite places was the art museum. This wasn't because of the great Egyptian, Roman and Greek exhibits. It was because they learned that several of the hallways were used as sets for the Naboo Palace scenes in Star Wars Episode I (The Phantom Menace)-- if we imagined digitizing out a few sculptures and digitizing in a few battle droids, we felt like we were there.

TRIBERG

Last of all, yesterday, we went for a day trip to Triberg, which is in the Schwartzwald (Black Forest). The town is beautiful. It's known for two main things: Cuckoo clocks and having the tallest waterfall in Germany. The wasserfall is actually made up of about 6 or 7 smaller falls, all linked together. We didn't get a cuckoo clock, but we had a great time walking around this beautiful little forest town-- especailly since tourist season has officially ended!

Thanks for reading up on our journeys!
Steve

Our Students!

Yes, we have students here. And we love them. They arrived after dark on September 6th weary, hungry and unshowered after being up almost all night and having a slightly delayed flight, and had to bring their two suitcases (max 70 pounds) and carry ons up the 71 steps. Did I mention it was cold and had been raining earlier?

What to do.

(A) Help them

(B) Pretend not to be home

(C) Pelt them with the readily available Kastagne und Nacktschnecken (chestnuts and slugs)

(D) Stand at the top and holler encouraging words while taking pictures openly glad it's not you this time.

As tempting as C was (and still is, just for the fun of it) we took the Christian pick of D. And I fondly call it the Student Parade. This is a rite of passage moment - they are Heidelbergers now.

Cam, Jared and Taylor B. making their way up.And here is the damage for the luggage. From one end of the library....

to the other...out the door....and into the entry way.It was an awe-inspiring sight!

We crowded into the Fruhstueck Zimmer (Breakfast Room) for the students to be greeted by Herr Daugherty and meet Ulla, Christian Seres, us, and to eat some pizza.

Ian posing with Natalie and Kristen. The students aren't the only tired ones!

That first weekend was an intensive orientation to the program, the House, the rules, and each other. It was softened by a beautiful ride on a ferry boat up the Neckar River to the nearby town of Neckarsteinach to enjoy the ride, see castles, eat food, and get acquainted.

Amanda, Stephanie, and Ian checking out some pictures.

Jon, Dominic and Shannon deep in conversation.

Taking pictures and taking in the view.

Talking and hanging out while waiting for the boat to rise in a lock. Don't touch the black funk on the side, it sticks on your fingers. Just ask Dominic. Eww.The towns on the Neckar are really beautiful.Chelsea C, Christina, Laura and Meagan hanging out below deck.Royce, Sebastian (aka, "Sea Bass"), and Matt Y enjoying the ride.

Say cheese!Mark, David and Zach B. on the front row, with Andrew, Susan, Taylor G, Adam and the top of Lex' head in the second row.

Ooh, castle. It's very cool that these things are here.

Fun on the ground at the Spielplatz. Meagan and Dominic swinging.

Lisa Daughterty above the fray as Dominic and Ian display some brotherly love.

That's more than enough for now. More later!

Love, Stacy, Steve, Dominic, and Ian

First Days

We've had lots of first days here so we'll start from the most recent and work our way back.

This past Monday, Ian started Kindergarten at Kanzleigasse Kindergarten. It's run by the City of Heidelberg. We really like it there, and more importantly, so does Ian!

Here is Ian at His Classroom Door for Walgruppe (the Whale Group). The kids move around rooms some during the day and he likes the Maulwerfgruppe (the Mole Group) room best because he likes their fort. He has a fort in his room, too, but the first day a girl blocked him and wouldn't let him in. In the other classroom no one blocks him so he's decided that one is better.

He is very glad to be in school and feels like the big boy he is. His teachers, Carolyn and Miriam, speak to him in German and some in English. When I asked him how it was to hear German all day his calmly said, "It's annoying."

Here is Ian outside on his playground. This playground sold the school for Ian when he first saw it.

It's designed like a Schloss (Castle) because the school backs up to the bottom wall of the real Heidelberg Schloss.

To the right of the red roof there are some colors on the wood - those are four shields for the Kindergarten's four classes, Wal (Whale), Maulwerf (Mole), Eisbaer (Polar Bear), and Maus (Mouse).

Ian goes to Kindergarten from 8 or 8:3o in the morning until 1:30 in the afternoon each day. The kids can't wear their shoes inside so each child has Hausschuhe (houseshoes) that they leave at school at put on each morning. They have a 3rd pair of shoes for gym that are never worn outside.

Here is Dominic walking into school on his first day of Dritte Klasse (third grade).

On Monday, Thursday and Friday he has to be at Schule (School) at 7:45 a.m. so we have to leave by 7:25 to be on time. Tuesday and Wednesday he gets there at 8:30. Most days he leaves school at 1:05, but on Monday and Friday he gets out at 12:15.

On Wednesday his whole grade goes swimming for Sport (P.E.) that's been fun for him.

Dominic in front of his school and the sign. It's Friedrich-Ebert Grundschule (Grade School). He is in Klasse 3.b with Frau Attree.

Colin, in Dominic's class has become a friend.

It hasn't been easy to sit for so many hours not being able to read or understand directions. But he is making friends and doing his best.

Two boys sitting on the Moore Haus steps, ready for school.

We are very proud of them both for being so brave to go to German school! They are still excited to be better German speakers than their parents. Which will happen very soon!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement for them both and please continue to pray for their perservance and patience in school, confidence to make new friends, and learning German.

German backpacks are really cool. The boys love theirs.

They are very lightweight and have thick shoulderstraps and pads on the back.

They are also reflectors, which is very cool!

We also have had the students' first day of arriving here in Germany, of their Intensive Week of German, and of Classes. Steve's first day of school (teaching, of course!) was good and he is enjoying his students. We have more pictures and stories coming very soon.

We would love to hear about what you are doing and how you all are, too.

Love, Ian, Dominic, Stacy and Steve

Because Robby Nagged Us...

We have had a great time the last couple of weeks being tourists in our new hometown, and going to so many nearby places. We're excited for our students to arrive, but we've been having a fun local vacation before they arrive.

A family that we have been getting to know at church invited us to the town of Weinheim to go to a waterpark called Miramar-- the boy sitting next to Dominic on the right is the son of that family-- he's named Maxim and he is about Dom's age. We had a great time, but we were introduced to one surprising part of the German culture. We found out that at this pool on certain nights, starting at 7:00 p.m., swimsuits are not allowed (notice, it's not just "swimsuits optional", but "swimsuits not allowed"). Well we decided that it would be good to leave right at 7:00, but we found out that German punctuality even extends to nudism-- at 7 sharp, ours were the only swimsuits in sight. That's when Dominic had a traumatizing experience. He was walking along, unaware that a naked man was walking right behind him, and he suddenly stopped and turned around. Let's just say that the phrase "Dominic got an eyeful" isn't just a figure of speech.

Heidelberg is a great town just to walk around and explore. They have incredible parks where kids can play with hands-on water sculptures.

The geese, however, are real.

A little south of Heidelberg is a great little town called Speyer. The main street (above) is beautiful. They have an aquarium that features fish from the Rhine River and the North Sea (which the Rhine empties into). Since it's just a short train ride away, we can tell this town will be one of our favorite day-trip locations.

Every summer, Heidelberg has a special firework show and lighting of the castle that commemorates the time (back in the 1600s) when the French army attacked the city and burned the castle, and destroyed part of the old bridge. We're not exactly sure why they celebrate someone else attacking them, but the display was incredible. They use special lights to make the castle look like it's on fire, and then they followed that with a firework show on the old bridge. The fireworks lasted 25 minutes long, nonstop-- the best fireworks any of us had seen. We watched it from a park right on the Neckar River, just about 100 yards away from the bridge.

On Sunday, another family from church took us to the nearby town Hirschhorn to go to a Medieval Festival. I had been to a renaissance festival in the US before, but it's a completely different experience to go to one at the foot of the hill below a medieval castle. Ian bought a wooden dagger and wooden shield, and Dominic bought a wooden sword and wooden shield, and they had fun in a wild everyone-for-themselves battling arena against other kids. It was complete chaos, and yet no one got hurt.

Tuesday we went to a nearby amusement park. Although it was small by California's standards, it had more than enough to keep us busy all day. Steve enjoyed most a freefall tower, Stacy loved the river raft ride, Dominic loved a ride where you are taken about 70 yards into the air and then swung around on swings, and Ian loved a Pirate waterski show.
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A few of you have called us on our new number, 310-929-5828, or joined Skype, www.skype.com, and we've so enjoyed hearing from you. If you haven't yet, we'd love it if you did! We even have a webcam now. Thanks for your posts, e-mails and mail, we miss you and enjoy hearing how you are and what you're doing.

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Our students are on their way here in the next hour. We are VERY excited for them to come. We have orientation tomorrow and Saturday, some fun local excursions with the group Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. Then German language immersion week on Monday!

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Also on Monday, Dominic and Ian begin school. They are both excited and nervous. We would love for you to pray for their transition and experiences.

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More later! Tchuss!