Laura Beth in Germany

Fun fact: I am soon to be featured in more local newspapers (and/or publications with my face on it) in Germany than in Missouri. If my memory serves me correctly, here's the tally of places you can, or could at some point, find my face: MISSOURI FAME newspaper: Soil and water conservation poster contest, 2nd place winner, 7th grade newspaper: Scholarship recipient to Borgia High School brochure: Webster Global MBA flyer: Webster Admissions   advertisement: giant Webster ad shown at sports stadiums in STL newspaper: article on our marriage in the Washington Missourian     placard: graduate portraits in Sverdrop building at Webster U. GERMANY FAME      flyer: Berlitz Heilbronn grand opening newspaper: "Old Lady Mardi Gras" 2013 (dressed as a cowgirl clown) newspaper: "Old Lady Mardi Gras" 2015 (dressed as a jester) newspaper: Art show opening in Großbottwar newspaper: article with Marlene, my original host sister, Marbach-Washington exchange ne

We have returned from our 2-week romp about the central coast of Croatia, and here are some photos and short highlights from each location! Our first week was spent in a suburb of Zadar, and week two was on the island of Pag, with a day trip to a national park in between. Naturally we spent many days on the pebble and rock beaches, but also putted around a bit in our little blue car and explored! Downtown historical Zadar Zadar has been around since Roman times, was then an important trade city for Venetians in the 1400s, and thereafter spent many years under Austrian rule. Now the city boasts a sea organ, an impressive harbor, a university and a bunch of tourism each summer. The planned streets of its old city area have been the same since the city came into existence and the white stones on the street are worn smooth and shiny by all the pedestrians over the years. Ship sailing into the Zadar harbor The sunsets (it was vacation, I did get up to see any sunrises) were abso

It has been a whirlwind of a summer. Things skyrocketed at work - we went from about 1000 lessons given per month to 2300 given in July. I was promoted as well to assistant director of our "little satellite school" in Heilbronn. My partner in crime (our customer service associate) and I were able to keep the place afloat and deliver this huge volume successfully and even came out as one of the most profitable schools in all of Germany for the first half of the year. As you can imagine, I am now in dior need of a vacation! To keep my sanity, we built in a few weekend trips in the past month. First, we spent three days at a house in Holland with 7 of our Kleinbottwar homies barbecuing, swimming, sunbathing and butchering the Dutch language with zero agenda. Next, we went hiking in the Alps with our friends Felix and Silvi. This time we were in a completely new region of Austria, a four hour drive from home and very close to the Italian border. In fact, we could have pull

For Fabian and I, celebrating 1 year of marriage consisted of a much-needed hiking trip in the Black Forest. We started at the lower end of the Wutach gorge last Saturday around noon, with coffee and sausages at this little kiosk with flower-stuffed boots: Our trail snaked through the gorge along the river, climbing and falling with each kilometer (but it was not nearly as strenuous as our typical hikes through the Alps).  After the first few hours, the gorge opened up to reveal something dear to my Missourian heart: bluffs! From there until the end of our hike, the landscape reminded me of a slightly larger-scale Meramec river. This felt appropriate for the occasion because, almost exactly a year ago, we were showing his German friends all around Meramec State Park.   The town of Donaueschingen (where we spent the night) is a sleepy place, mostly famous for the source of the Danube river. Our hotel was nice and offered a lovely breakfast. We then spent Su

Today's post is an inspiration from the wonderful blog Searching Sophia's Pockets . Credit to Will O'Brien for the post about accepting and appreciating where you come from!  Where I’m From I am from the 64-pack of Crayola crayons, from Schlafly Hefeweizen and snap bracelets. I am from the wasp-filled air conditioning vents. I am from the dogwood tree, the Meramec River. I am from thrift store hunting and using too much tape on Christmas presents, from Lilian LaVerne and Ruby Savatha and Grandpa E. I am from the music on the front porch and sisters singing in hesitant harmony. From “the fourth commandment!” and everything happens for a reason. I am from praying the Rosary every Tuesday on brown, duck-taped kneelers, the diamond stained-glass windows leaking warm air. I'm from Kansas City and Cherokee-German-French-Italian , from corn soufflé and calico beans. From Pop Toe Wart Knee Bang and the Cardinals on TV, from Gomez Corn Mouthface Booboo, and my m

Germany - Year 2, Month 7 They say homesickness comes in waves of threes. After three weeks on a tour bus cavorting through Europe at age 16, you start to miss home despite the amazing old buildings and beautiful people surrounding you. Three months into your exchange year, you wonder if you can really hold out for another seven months with a family that works so differently from your own and wonder just how much extra Spätzle weight will fit into your favorite bell-bottomed chinos. Today, day three of being cooped up in the house with a cold, I realize that year three is quickly approaching. That's a whole other ball game than weeks or months. That's way past crushes on your Spanish tour bus driver (who may have been gay) and longing for automatic cars and good Tex-Mex food. Strange thoughts are entering my head these days - I complain about taxes, chat on the phone with my mother-in-law, wonder about the future of my career and whether it will ever fulfill me. I see pe

January and February have been tough. Trying to navigate my new job at the new school while prepping for our open house & learning to consult customers has admittedly been a lot to handle. Luckily I had Altweiberfasching ("old women Mardi Gras") to look forward to last Thursday! Simliar to Mardi Gras, Fasching springs from the Catholic tradition of partying hard before the 40 days of fasting before Easter. Different ways of celebrating have sprung up all over the world, the most famous versions internationally are those of Rio, New Orleans and in Venice. Everywhere you find this celebration, there are some similarities; parades and costumes are always involved! Here in the Swabian-Allemanian region, of course, the festival has its own flavor. There are various clubs here that prepare year-round just for Fasching. They dress up in ridiculous costumes and play big band music, or they dress in drag and perform embarassing choreography, or they dress