Week 3! -Schönau!

Hello Again! This week has been very fun! It started off on Monday, the day of Fasnet! What a fun day! There was a parade in Freiburg, but we decided instead to go to Schönau, the town where Renate grew up. We left the apartment at 10 and first got on the tram. The tram took us to the train station where we took a train to a bus station. We then took the bus to another bus station, but we missed that bus because the our first bus was late. Then we all piled in a little car and drove a little ways to Renate’s parents house. At this point it was lunch time, so we had a wonderful lunch made by Renate’s mom. We had salad, some potatoes, peas, and mushrooms that were harvested locally in the Black forest! What a treat! It was all delicious! Then it was time for the parade. We were all in costume, I was a pirate, Rahel was a frog, Noah was a tiger, and Timo was a police officer. This time we took two cars to drive downtown to get to the parade. It was a very short drive. The parade was so much fun! Everyone was in fun, crazy costumes and we all lined the streets waiting for it to start. When it started there were lots of bands marching, playing songs and of course the people in the crazy/ scary wooden masks that gave candy to the kids. Some of them were throwing different things though. Some of them were throwing onions, or confetti, and some of them were even handing out shots of something! There were also some people throwing little containers of jam! Everyone got so much candy! I didn’t collect much because I really wanted to watch and make sure I didn’t miss anything funny. When we got back to Renate’s parent’s house everyone put all their candy on the floor and organized it all and traded with each other. It reminded me of what Owen and I would do on Halloween. After we did that for about an hour Rahel, Renate, Renate’s mom and I took Shara (their little dog) for a walk. It was a very beautiful walk. When we got to one point we could see the whole town. The sun was setting so perfectly and it was so beautiful. The photos I took really don’t do it justice. After the walk it was time to leave. We all drove back, except for Rahel who took the bus back because we couldn’t all fit in the car. The drive back was so beautiful. Once again, the photos I took don’t do it justice. It had been snowing so the trees were bent over with heavy snow. The sun was setting over the mountains in a distance and it all looked out over the valley which lead to a city below. Words can’t describe how truly beautiful it was. I really wish that I had brought my nice camera, but all I had was my phone. What a wonderful way to end an amazing day! 

One of the photos from the Fasnets Parade. You can see their crazy masks, and they're playing music too. 

This isn't the best photo, but I thought this costume was really funny. There were about 15 people dressed like these dogs. 

In this photo you can see another example of the crazy costumes, and you can see Police Officer Timo getting candy. 

Some of the beautiful snow covered trees. 

The AMAZING view of the sun setting on our drive back to Freiburg. 

Here are some more of the beautiful trees, they looked way more amazing in person though. 

A photo Renate took of me with the beautiful scenery in the background. 

I just can't get enough of this view!

So beautiful!

The majority of the week was pretty normal. We basically just stayed in the apartment and hung out with each other. And in the afternoons I went to school. Even though everybody else got this week off for Fasnets break, I did not. However this week at language school I hit a big milestone! I wrote a whole paragraph by myself! No templates, and no help! Our unit right now is about houses, apartments, furniture, etc. The assignment was to write about our Dream house, or “Traumhaus” in German. So happy that i'm at this point now! 

One of the fun things I did this week was play Scrabble with Noah. It was pretty difficult because I don’t know that many words in German, and most of the words I know are very long and not short, and for about 4 rounds I had no vowels. That definitely didn’t help. I used my dictionary to help, but there were a few words that I did by myself. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement, but small steps forward is still progress. It was fun to play though. I look forward to playing again. 

On Wednesday Noah, Timo, Renate, and Andy met up with Renate’s dad to go skiing. It was a beautiful day and they had a lot of fun. Rahel and I stayed in Freiburg though because I had language school later that day and she had to take care of Tessa (the pony) and wanted to hang out with a friend. On Saturday, however, we went skiing! It was my first time skiing in Germany! So much fun! It was very crowded but it still felt good to ski for a bit! 

As for this week’s treat update! I’ve learned that the chocolate is usually my favorite so this week I just got a chocolate bar. I got the "Milka Waves With Carmel Crisp Pearls” It’s half milk chocolate, half white chocolate and on top is a bunch of sprinkle-like caramel pieces. I don’t really taste the caramel but it’s very good! My favorite is still the Happy Cow though. 

Thanks for reading this week's blog! Feel free to email me anytime or leave comments on this blog! Have a great day!