My First Three Weeks in Deutschland...for real!

Ok so I didn't realize that when I posted last weekend that I really hadn't been in Germany for three weeks. I had been gone from my house for three weeks, but not in Germany. But now, as of August 27, I have been in Germany for three weeks.

This week was my last week of Sprachcamp in Aachen at the Jugendherberge. I am really glad it is over, but overall, I think it was important. I may not have learned a lot of new things, but there was a lot of good review and it gave us a chance to talk about adjusting to our host families and the German culture. I will miss the Jugendherberge though. That may sound a little weird, but I really liked it. It was on a very nice residential street in Aachen and was up on a small hill. There were a bunch of really tall trees all around it and all the people there were really helpful and nice.

For our trip with the Sprachcamp this week, we went to the Aachener Dom. I had been there once, but just into the entrance. The Aachener Dom is a Roman Catholic Church in the middle of Aachen's Altstadt (old town). Surprisingly, it was not damaged during World War II, even though much of Aachen was destroyed by Allied bombings. It is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe and was the church used for the coronation of 30 German kings. The church is about 1200 years old, but pretty much all of it has been replaced multiple times. Inside the church lies Charlemagne's shrine (containing many of his bones) and a shrine for the Virgin Mary (containing relics from her life). In addition, Charlemagne's throne is in the Church and is the only object in the church that has never been moved. It was so amazing to see these parts of history. America definitely has its own fair share of interesting history, but Europe goes back so much farther and to see these sites and shrines that I have learned about in AP world history was great. Also, the Aachener Dom is a UNESCO World Heritage Site...the first one ever in Germany!

Wednesday was Meike's birthday. Sven was on his class trip in Paris, so Ralf, Karin, Meike, and I went to Duren to go shopping and then out to eat. I had my first ever Doner (spelled with an umlaut o, but since I have an American laptop, that's a little difficult). Ralf and Karin saw them in Florida when they were there once on vacation, but I have never seen them in the Northwest! If you don't know what a Doner is, it's a big piece of bread (basically a pita) with a hole in the middle (like a pocket). Inside, there are usually thin slices of lamb (sad, I know, but delicious), some sort of sauce (hot, joghurt, sweet) and a bunch of vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and other things. Usually people eat them with pommes frites-french fries! Really though, if you ever see a restaurant that says it has Doner, please please please go inside and order one. It will probably be one of the best things you have ever had! Thank you Turkish people for coming to Germany after WWII and making the Doner an integral part of German cuisine!

Well I have to be in bed by 10:00pm...it's a school night! Hope all of you are doing well and I miss everybody! Thank you for reading my blog and commenting on it! I love reading the comments!

Guten Nacht
Carrie