Laura Beth in Germany

A few weekends ago, Fabian and I volunteered to pick up his grandparents from their 5-week long vacation at a mineral spa in southeastern Bavaria. His parents suggested we make a small trip out of it, and spend the day exploring Passau - the city of 3 rivers. So we booked our train tickets, found a cheap hotel room, and left Kleinbottwar at 6 a.m. that Saturday. Our first matter of business upon arrival was finding some warm food and cold beer. We stopped by the visitor's center for a city map and discovered that the "Baroque Festival" was going on in town, and on our way to the restaurant, we saw marching bands, jokers on stilts, and women in HUGE gowns and wigs, fanning themselves as they watched the medieval-style musicians on the street corners. We sat inside at the restaurant because it was overcast and a little chilly, and ate Spätzle with cheese. We tasted the local beer from Innstadt Brewery - in operation since 1318. (Enlarge the photo and you rea...

Good news! I can tentatively say: I FOUND A JOB! The Berlitz language school in Stuttgart, located right next to the central train station (the bahnhof), sent me an email yesterday telling me that they were very impressed with my two interviews, and could easily see me as a great addition to their team! Berlitz operates worldwide with over 500 locations in 70 different countries. Those numbers include 50 locations within 24 U.S. states - and includes a school in St. Louis! It was explained to me in my 2nd interview, that after 2 years of teaching, employees have the opportunity to enroll in leadership training within the company, or to remain on staff as [the German equivalent of a] salaried teacher. You can also country-hop and transfer to any location in the world once you've proven yourself! Here's a link to their website:  http://www.berlitz.us/About-Berlitz/67/ Now, while excitement IS exploding out of me, I still haven't seen or signe...

There have been a variety of changes around our place since the last update, beginning with the addition of five very cute little fish. We have 4 female guppies and 1 male (the one with the leopard print tail). Before yesterday, they were hanging out in Fabi's old room upstairs, but they are now officially part of the family down here on the ground level. Their little tank is in the dining room. We've also entirely reclaimed the garden. You've seen the photos from move-in day, and I am proud to present the fruits of 2 days of labor - a clean patio, a visible fence, and plenty of space to sit outside and eat dinner, or lay in the sun.   Another welcome change is the brightening of our living room by adding a postcard collage to the giant wooden monstrosity. Turns out Fabian collects postcards just like I do - and we didn't know that about each other until last weekend!     Here is a closer view of the collage: While I have no refrigerator...

Hello, Family! So, here we go... the first round of Alps photos! This first one is our view the morning we left. A bus drove us from our hotel in the valley up to about the half-way mark altitude-wise. Lots of shade because the mountains are just so darn huge. This photo overlooks the "Lechtal" - the valley of the Lech River. This is a group photo of the adults we went with. There were 6 of us all together. Fabi and I are not featured in this lovely shot, but you can see Markus and Anja (friends of the family) and Margit and Hansi (the latter being his normal goofy self). Then we have my wonderful Julie Andrews impression. ... and some robustly healthy cows who let us walk right through their grazing space. How the cows made it up to that altitude eludes me, but they were there nontheless, bells a' ringing. Fabian strikes a Tirolan pose at the almost-top. From this point (which is comparable in height to Emerald Lake at the end of on our hike in Colo...

Definitely hit a milestone yesterday - rode 30 miles on my bike. We rode up to Stuttgart on the train to meet my friend Mirjam (a Webster exchange student from Germany a few years back), had ice cream, then rode our bikes all the way home.  Being goofy along the trail View of the Neckar from a bridge When you ride on the bikeways here on a sunny day, there are people everywhere! You have to use your bell to warn people that you're coming up from behind them. But once yesterday, a man was busy talking to his friends and didn't hear me. I tried to squeeze past him anyway on the bridge, but he walked right in front of me, and I had to hit the wall to not run him over. Kind of embarassing, but not my fault. Not long after, I convinced Fabi that we should take a break at one of the many beer gardens along our way. We chose this one:   Remseck, halfway home Pausing at the Boathouse Beer Garden My legs are surprisingly okay today. But I'm still tkaing...

I had another little milestone today. Margit and I went down to the Steinheim "Rathaus", the city hall, and registered me as a resident of the city of Kleinbottwar. In a few months, I will receive an invitation in the mail to the annual official welcoming ceremonies, during which the mayor speaks and then all the new residents are paraded around town. Neat, right? Registration Paperwork Tonight Fabian and I are going to pick up his aunt's old bicycle, so that I can get around at no cost. Speaking of transportation, I very successfully drove a stick shift car yesterday from Kleinbottwar to Großbottwar and back. I think with a little practice, I will be just fine driving here. I have been applying for jobs as well as looking at further education opportunities, either in Business or language services - translation or teaching. I am also applying for an international telephone marketing service (I know, I would be one of THOSE people, but at least they could use my skil...

Hello, Family! It's slightly easier to share things with you blog-style. Hopefully I'll have enough time to keep it up. But for now, here are some initial shots of the apartment! It's starting to finally feel like it's my place... now that we've got our own decorations up here and there. Lots of work still to do, though. Living Room Living Room Note the woodcarving from Lisa in our MASSIVE wooden whatever-that-thing is. Living Room I got that tapestry for Fabi a long time ago. It just so happens to KIND OF match the green furniture. Not really, but let's just pretend, okay? haha! Bedroom You enter the bedroom from the living room, and that there is my giant wardrobe. No closets in this house. I miss my big closet so bad! Bedroom Our orange and red curtains... came with the place! As did many Catholic books from Fabi's late grandparents. Bedroom Got my tapestry up, too! We moved Fabi's bookshelf downstairs, and I've now...